The Family We Choose
by Kay Hau
Summary: Husky is kidnapped by an intrepid collector who has managed to find a way through dimensional portals. Cooro, Nana, and Senri chase them through the portal, but lose the man in Jump City. Can the Teen Titans help them find and rescue their friend? PREVIOUSLY TITLED: PLUS ANIMA MEETS TEEN TITANS
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: I know I should be working on my other stories, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head, so here it is! Enjoy, and please review!  
_

* * *

Husky woke in a panic to find himself underwater. Underwater? Had he fallen in a river? Had there been some sort of flash flood? Were the others okay?

_No time to panic. I'm a fish now; I won't drown. I have to check on the others. Which way is land? _

Still only half-conscious, he surged upwards, only to roughly bang his head on something, jolting himself fully awake. Had he gone the wrong way?

It was dark. Black dark, not nighttime dark.

His eyes were open, he was sure of it. Had he gone blind? What had he crashed into?

He carefully rose to the surface again. If he closed his eyes to avoid the disorienting feeling of pitch black, he instinctively knew which way was up. Sure enough, there was something there, about an inch above the top of the water.

_What on earth? A ceiling over a river? That doesn't make sense. Maybe some sort of tunnel…_

Thank goodness he was a fish +anima. If he'd been anything else, he probably would've drowned by now. If not, he certainly would've, because it would be nearly impossible to get enough air from such a small gap.

Husky stroked the ceiling over his head, trying to figure out what was going on. It was smooth, like glass, not rock or dirt, so he wasn't in a cave or canal. He felt around, only feeling a continuation of that smooth thing above the water.

He randomly chose a direction and followed it, keeping one hand running along that thing above him and the other stretched out, looking for something, anything.

In only a few seconds, he met a wall. It had the same feel as the thing above him. The thing above him and the wall met at a corner, but no matter how he pushed on either, neither gave the smallest bit. He randomly chose to go to the left and follow the wall and ceiling things, far too soon coming to another wall.

Here he started to panic, a familiar trapped feeling welling up in his chest. A memory of the giant glass tank he had 'performed' in when he worked at the circus came unbidden to his mind. Along with that memory, came visions, all too vivid in this pitch blackness, of the ringmaster grabbing hold of him and telling him he'd never let his beautiful mermaid princess get away…

_No no no no no… _

He quickly followed that wall to a third, and that third to a fourth, which he followed back to the first. The ceiling covered the whole thing. Ceiling, or should he say lid?

Already knowing what he would feel, he went down as far as he could, only to find a floor of the same substance.

It probably was glass, because he'd bet anything he was in some sort of fish tank. A box roughly 10 feet cubed, and completely empty except for water and himself.

_Bad. Very, very bad._

_No! No way! What about Cooro, Nana, and Senri? Where were they? Were they okay? What had happened?_

The fish +anima charged to the top of his prison as fast as he could, slamming his hands into the glass lid painfully.

Nothing.

He pushed and pushed upwards, sideways, at any and every angle. There had to be some way to get this thing off!

Angry and scared, he banged his fist into the lid as hard as he could. Glass was supposed to break, wasn't it?

Nothing. The lid seemed to bounce at the impact, sending a vibrating throb through his arm.

_No way! If it won't move, I'll break it! I'm not wasting my life in a fish bowl!_

He punched the lid again and again, but nothing happened. He continued on as long as he was able, but after what felt like hours he gave up.

His hands hurt from the impact with the glass. His arms ached from the strange vibration that ran up them each time he lashed out. His head was ringing from the stress of the situation.

Feeling tears flowing out of his eyes and into the water, he let himself sink to the bottom of the tank.

_Where am I? What happened?_

His voice ringed in his own mind, thick with despair. Angry at his own helplessness. Terrified for his friends. Panicked at the realization that he was someone's prisoner, to do with as they pleased.

There was loud humming sound, then blinding light.

Husky let out a cry that, being underwater, went no further than his lips, and quickly hid his eyes behind his hands. They burned after all that time in the pitch black darkness.

"My, what a beautiful creature I've found…" came a strange voice, having that strange hollow sound that all voices have when they travel through glass and water.

Husky managed to take his hands away and, after a few blinks to adjust to the lighting, which wasn't so bright after all, looked towards the voice.

A man, probably over 6 feet in height, but thin and gangly. Dressed in a rich bathrobe, of all things, and slippers – in all honesty, like he'd just finished a shower and was lounging around before bed. He had wispy blond hair and narrow yellowish green eyes, staring at Husky, and not as one usually stares at a child. This stare was appraising and possessive, like someone who'd purchased something of value.

To Husky's relief, he saw no lust or perversion in those eyes. No violence or cruelty. Just interest and admiration, a small smirk of pleasure and possession.

* * *

The man watched as the beautiful mermaid he'd captured in that other world watched him warily, as all pets are at first. He made a point to not move too much and to look as unthreatening as possible, especially after the banging he'd heard earlier. Thankfully, he'd accepted the offer of the special shock-absorbing glass, knowing that water creatures tend to get violent and even self-destructive when introduced to a tank.

She was beautiful, or was it a male? It was impossible to tell, but with such a beautiful pet, did it really matter? He owned a mermaid! Something no other collector in the world could claim! Everything else was irrelevant.

The mermaid had chin-length silver hair that seemed to shine blue in the bright white lighting he'd had installed above the tank. When she nervously tucked her hair behind an ear, he noticed pretty sapphire earrings. She turned to look at him again, and he admired those giant, round, light blue eyes, full of intelligence and expression. He knew exactly what the remarkable creature was thinking. She was wondering where she was, and appraising if he was a threat.

His eyes went down her beautiful fish form, somehow so much more beautiful than the general idea of a mermaid. There was no giant breast scantily clad in clamshells, no shocking transition at her waist from skin to tail. The only parts of her that were human were her arms and head. The fish part of her started at her neck, with a sort of collar of those beautiful silver-blue scales. Her chest was flat and appeared to be where her gills were, and she had a large dorsal fin on her lower back, a pair of pectoral fins around where her hips would be if she were human, and of course her long, elegant tail.

It all flowed quite harmoniously together, and every movement she made was graceful and smooth, like a dancer. He could spend hours just admiring her.

He smiled slightly, imagining the future, when she'd relax more and begin to look forward to his visits. When he'd be able to watch her swim around, dive, maybe even play.

Yes, he'd need to find toys for her to occupy herself with. She was wearing earrings, so perhaps she liked jewelry.

Oh! And more practically, he needed a name for her! Something that could be either masculine or feminine, since he wasn't sure of the gender. And he had to figure out what she ate, and get some decorations for her tank, which was dismally empty, in stark contrast to the rest of the room.

Which she seemed to have just noticed. He watched in pleasure as her wide eyes took in where she was. The elegant room in his mansion was draped in rich reds and browns. A fireplace was along a distant wall, and expensive paintings by Rembrandt and Monet hung along the walls. Thick red carpet covered the whole floor except for the stone around the fireplace and the tile below and around her tank. Three large, overstuffed chairs and an enormous sofa were arranged facing her tank, and a shelf filled with thick novels stood along the wall with the one door out of the room.

Her eyes latched onto the door, frowning. Then she looked around her empty tank, and noticed the connection of the water filter to her tank. She quickly dismissed it as of no importance. It was far too small for her to escape through, only about four inches square.

She again met his eyes, and this time her mouth seemed to form words. English words. He frowned in confusion. She glared in annoyance and again mouthed the words.

Who-Are-You?

He blinked, then his smile grew enormously. She could speak! This was wonderful!

"My name is Colin. I'll take good care of you, don't worry."

She scowled and mouthed some more words. Colin wasn't that good at reading lips, so he just shrugged.

His mermaid looked irritated. She gestured to the top of her tank and made a lifting motion with her hands.

"You want out? I'm sorry, but I don't want you trying to get away. Maybe, if you're very good, I'll open the lid enough for you to talk to me for a bit. Does that sound good?"

She glared at him, her wonderfully expressive eyes telling him that NO, it was not good enough, and that she wanted out NOW.

He laughed. Such an entertaining creature! He took a book down from the shelf and settled himself into a relaxed position on the couch.

* * *

"Where are we?" wondered Cooro. The black-haired boy was standing on the edge of a tall building, staring in awe at all the enormous buildings, the likes of which he'd never seen before. It was all completely foreign, with the bright colors and hundreds of rushing people who didn't even notice the three strange children on the roof of a department store.

"Jump City," said the slow, careful voice of Senri. The teenage gray-haired boy was staring at a huge "Welcome to Jump City! Home of the Teen Titans!" sign.

"Thanks, Senri," said Nana sincerely. She was a cute girl with long blond hair. "But what we really should be worrying about is Husky." She chewed her bottom lip, worry clear on her face. "That man that we saw carrying him off…"

Cooro frowned, looking crestfallen. "I'm sorry I lost him. I couldn't keep up with that strange thing. What did those people call it? A car?"

"I couldn't keep up either, so I can't blame you," said Nana. She sighed. "And Senri had his hands full just keeping that strange door open for us."

Senri nodded and looked down towards the street, noticing a group of teenagers around his own age coming out of a nearby building. They all appeared to be carrying bags laden with food, so perhaps the store was some kind of market. He frowned. Something was weird about them.

"Different," Senri said, gesturing towards them.

Cooro and Nana looked over, both frowning. Yeah, those kids did look different from everyone around them. The smallest one was green and bouncing around like he had springs in his feet. One, a beautiful red-head, was flying, and without any wings! The next seemed to be made of metal and some weird blue stuff. A fourth had a cloak on with the hood up. And the fifth wore a mask and cape.

The fifth looked up and straight over at them. Well, the three assumed he did. It was hard to tell with the mask. But the frown on his face was clear. He started towards them, purpose in his stride.

He looked dangerous.

Cooro and Nana met glances, nodded, and let their wings out.

* * *

Robin was the first to catch sight of the three strange kids, well, two kids and a teen. He frowned. For one thing, they were standing on the edge of a department store building, carefully balanced on the tiles of the roof, looking around with far more than normal curiosity. For another, they were dressed like they were from another time, maybe even another world.

In seconds, Robin took in the basic information.

The girl had long, wavy blond hair, green eyes, and was dressed in an old fashioned dress decorated with flowers and lace, and probably petticoats from the way it flared out. A fabric hat was tied to her head and a homemade bag hung from a strap on her shoulder. She looked about 10 or 11.

The boy had black hair and brown eyes, and his outfit was hard to describe. Some sort of leather tunic top over a sleeveless shirt, and matching detached sleeves that came up his arms but exposed his tattooed shoulders. He also had multicolored feathers tied to an aviator cap and loose denim shorts that came just past his knees, ending at the tops of his long, leather boots. He had a small fur-covered bag attached to his belt. He was probably about 12.

The teenage boy had gray hair with blue beads woven into it, and an eye patch covered his left eye. He outfit seemed Native American, some sort of buckskin poncho and matching pants, both with tassels and beads. A large knife of some sort appeared to be sheathed at his side. He could be about 16.

They didn't appear immediately dangerous, but they did appear lost. And far too serious to be just looking for directions to a gas station.

Besides, something about them just wasn't normal, and it was more than their strange dress or the fact they were on a roof.

They saw him shift direction and start towards them, and from the alarmed looks on their faces, either they were criminals and were scared of the famous Robin, or had no idea who he was and thought he might hurt them.

The rest of the Teen Titans noticed Robin shift directions, and their eyes looked in the direction he was going in and also locked on the three strange kids.

The girl and the boy met glances, and then the strangest thing happened.

The girl and boy suddenly grew wings. The boy's were birdlike and pitch black. The girl's were also black, but batlike. The girl's ears also grew to enormous proportions, giving her all the more appearance of a bat. The two kids quickly turned, grabbed hold of the large Native American teen, each by one arm, and jumped off the roof, swooping out of a dive and quickly flying in the opposite direction from Robin and the rest of the Teen Titans.

Of course, this was no problem for the Titans.

"Catch them," ordered Robin. "I think they're up to something!"

Beastboy jumped into the air, shifting into a green falcon. Raven set down her book and floated up, her dark eyes glaring towards the kids. Starfire, already in the air, took off after them. Cyborg ran to the T-car, leaping behind the wheel, the engine roaring to life. Robin ran to his nearby R-Cycle, jumping on and having it taking off in seconds. This was so routine to them, they didn't even drop their grocery bags.

The three strange kids were instantly trapped. Seeing themselves chased by air, they dropped to the ground and started running, which didn't help in the least as they had no idea where to go and no time to hide. Within minutes, they were cornered.

Beastboy dropped in front of them, shifting back to human form when he saw their faces. The girl was terrified, the boy was worried, and the teenager was frowning. To Beastboy's surprise, the teenager stepped protectively in front of the winged children and raised his right arm, which morphed before his eyes into a giant bear-claw.

Well, he could do that too, but it didn't seem like it would help matters. Starfire and Raven appeared at his side, lowering themselves back to the ground.

"Look, guys, we don't want to hurt you," said Beastboy, trying to calm them down. "We're the good guys. We help people."

The batlike girl took a deep breath, looking like she was going to scream. The boy quickly slapped his hands over her mouth. "Wait, Nana! What if they can help us?"

Raven frowned. It sounded almost like the boy was stopping the girl from using another power, more than just getting her to shut up. From the way the girl's eyes narrowed, and the emotions coming off her, Raven was pretty sure she was right. The kids had one more way out of this situation, or at least they thought they did.

"It is quite alright, visiting children and teenager. Our leader felt you were 'up to something,' which means the planning of mischief. Were you?" asked Starfire.

Robin and Cyborg pulled up behind the three Titans. Robin leaped off his R-Cycle, and Cyborg jumped out of his car, both running over to where the rest of the team had the kids blocked in an alley.

Robin frowned at seeing the teenager's bear arm, and he glanced over to Cyborg, who already had his arm flipped open and was scanning the children for any anomalies.

"We weren't doing ANYTHING!" shouted the girl angrily, though still hiding behind the boy with the bear arm. "We're just looking for our friend!"

"Husky was kidnapped," explained Cooro, his eyes wide and earnest. He pulled on Senri's normal arm, and the puzzled teenager slowly lowered his bear arm and let it change back to normal. "Can you guys help us?"

The Teen Titans all glanced over to Robin, who was frowning and examining the children carefully.

"Tell us what happened," he ordered.


	2. Chapter 2

Husky was able to ignore the man after a while. All he did was sit there and read, occasionally glancing over and smiling, but not really doing anything. Before he knew what he was doing, the young fish +anima was letting his mind wander. Wander back to what had happened... when? The day before? Several hours ago? It didn't seem like it'd been that long, but then he'd been unconscious, he was sure of that much.

* * *

"Tell us what happened," ordered Robin, watching the three strange children carefully.

"Well, we were on our way to visit Senri's uncle…" began Cooro.

* * *

—Flashback—

Cooro, Husky, Nana, and Senri were traveling again. It was nice staying with some of their friends, but the year they'd spent wandering, just the four of them, to places foreign and mysterious, had instilled in all of them a small bit of wanderlust. Nowadays, they went traveling at least once every few months. This time, they'd decided to visit the Kim-un-Ker, maybe spend some time with Senri's uncle. They hadn't parted on the best of terms, and Cooro said they should make up for it, though Senri didn't seem to care much.

After a long day's hiking through the mountains, they settled on a nice place to camp. Surrounded by forest, a large lake alongside, plenty of firewood, stones, and berry bushes. They quickly set to their own tasks, each with an experience brought on by months upon months of fending for themselves.

Senri and Nana went hunting. Nana would stun the animal with her sonar and Senri would quickly and effectively kill the animal and prepare its meat for dinner. They usually stuck to small game, like squirrels and rabbits, occasionally a snake or bird.

Cooro would gather fruit, nuts, and berries. He'd usually be done first, so afterwards he would collect firewood and get a nice campfire going, ready to roast whatever meat and fish they'd end up with for dinner, as well as keep them warm and safe overnight.

Husky undressed down to the tight black undershirt and pants he wore when diving. They didn't get in the way when he was swimming, and moreover the fabric they were made of dried quickly. As usual, he went spearfishing, armed only with a 3-foot spear(*) and his quick reflexes.

Cooro was just getting the fire started when a strange blue and green circle appeared in the sky. To Cooro's surprise, and delight, a door appeared in the center of it and creaked open. A man peeked his head out. As usual, when Cooro saw something interesting, he went to see it closer. He spread his black wings and leapt into the sky, flying over to the man, who was watching in awe.

"What is this thing?" asked Cooro excitedly, running his hands along the edge of the circle.

"A portal," said the blond-haired man. "I'm from another world."

"Why did you come here, then?"

"I'm a collector, and I've already obtained everything I want in my world."

"Cool! What are you looking for?"

"I don't really know yet. Can all people in your world fly?"

Cooro laughed. "No, just +anima with wings."

"+Anima?"

"Yeah! There's all sorts of us! We're usually kids. I'm a crow +anima!"

"How interesting! Would you like to come with me?"

"No thanks. I have my friends."

The man frowned. "What a pity." He glanced downwards, and noticed the lake below. And swimming in that lake, some sort of enormous fish. It broke the water, revealing the most beautiful child he'd ever seen, but when the child dived, he very clearly saw a beautiful fish tail instead of legs.

The collector's eyes grew huge and he stared. "A mermaid…" he whispered.

"Yeah, lots of people call Husky that. He really hates it, though."

The man from another world was no longer listening to Cooro. He turned around and leaned behind the door, pulling out something very strange looking. It was long and rounded, like a spear or javelin, but without a head, and it appeared to be hollow, of all things! Some sort of strange mechanical device was attached to a part that fit into the man's hand.

The man aimed the hollow end of the thing, and just about the time Cooro realized this was something bad, the man fired. A loud crack echoed through the forest for miles around.

Something struck Husky's back, and almost instantly the fish +anima floated to the surface, unmoving.

Cooro screamed and lunged at the man, but the man swung around the thing in his hands and cracked it against Cooro's head. The man was much stronger than he looked, and Cooro flew the good 20 feet or so to the land, banging painfully to the ground.

"NO!" Cooro screamed again, as the man set the weapon at his side and pulled out what looked like a fishing net. He dropped it into the water and quickly snared Husky, pulling his unconscious catch over to him. Cooro struggled to get up, but his arms trembled and his head swam.

Nana and Senri came running out of the forest and quickly saw the situation. Nana screamed in rage and took to the sky, her bat wings flapping. Senri helped Cooro up and glared at the man, who by now had pulled Husky up and settled the child in his arms. He pulled out something that looked like a much smaller version of the weapon he'd used on Husky and aimed it at the crazy bat-girl flying at him.

"Nana!" called Cooro desperately, shaking his head roughly to clear it. He quickly spread his wings and jumped into the sky. He grabbed Senri's arm and struggled to lift the much larger boy.

The man fired and Nana cried out as something that felt like a knife flashed past her leg, leaving a long scratch. She dodged quickly when the man aimed at her again.

"NANA!" called Cooro again. The man was backing up into the portal, and they'd lose him soon!

Nana realized what Cooro meant and flew back to help him carry Senri. The man aimed at them, then frowned and hefted Husky into a more secure position in his arms, casually tossing the small weapon to the side and turning back through the door. The portal started to shrink, and the door slowly began to shut.

The three children reached the door, and Senri lunged at it, his arm now a bear's, and used his brute strength to shove the thing open and hold it there, while Cooro and Nana swept through the door and after the man.

Senri growled dangerously and slammed the heavy door all the way open. He charged into the strange room, running quickly. Cooro and Nana had already disappeared from sight. He didn't pay much attention to the strange man, all covered in a strange outfit and with this stringy moustache, no matter what the man screamed at him while he pounded away at some blinking metal table.

Cooro and Nana ran after the man, but it was hard to fly inside the narrow hall of the building they were in. Running would still be slower though, especially with all the strangely dressed people running below them, staring and pointing and screaming. Some of those strange people even brought out more strange weapons, which Nana and Cooro had to dodge and weave to avoid.

They managed to just barely stay on the man's tail until he left the building. Thinking they'd finally have the advantage outside, Cooro and Nana dashed after him, only to see the man, Husky unconscious and resting in his arms, getting into some sort of… what was it called? They'd seen something like it in their travels before, and the man who'd built it had called it… a car, yes, that was it. But what they'd seen wasn't so pretty, and not nearly as big.

This 'car' was long and shiny black all over, even the windows! The door slammed shut behind the man, and the car took off at unimaginable speeds. Cooro and Nana flew after it, Senri charging out of the building and spotting them. He ran after them, his bear claw swinging at anyone who got in his way.

They couldn't catch up. In only a few minutes, the car turned onto something that a sign called a 'highway' and was out of sight in seconds.

Nana and Cooro sunk to the ground and cried, letting their anima forms disappear. Senri frowned, turned his arm back, and stoically gathered the children in his arms. He followed the highway all the way into the place called Jump City.

It was a very long walk, through a very strange place.

* * *

—Current—

Robin frowned at the children's story. This was a very serious situation, if someone had indeed crossed into another world and kidnapped a child. While strange, there was nothing about the children's story that was unbelievable, nothing they really hadn't come across before. It was not unknown for children with special abilities to be captured by collectors of various sorts.

"Your friend is a mermaid?" asked Beastboy, excitedly.

"A fish +anima," replied Nana. "But he's really, really pretty. I even thought he was a girl for a while."

"So +anima is what you call those with animal abilities in your world?" asked Cyborg.

"Yes," said Cooro, and gestured to his shoulder. "We get markings like this when we get our anima. Each person's is different." Senri held up his hand, and the Teen Titans saw he had a similar tattoo on it. While Cooro's tattoos vaguely resembled feathers, Senri's was a stylized version of a bear claw. They glanced at Nana, who blushed.

"Mine's on my back," she said, in embarrassment. "And… it's not pretty like Cooro's."

"Weren't you shot at?" asked Raven, her voice cold, but her eyes holding a trace of concern.

"Just a scratch," answered the cute girl, lifting her skirts just a little to show a long bloody line along the outside of her calf. "It's not bleeding anymore."

"Let me take a look at it," said Raven, leaning down next to the brave girl.

Robin turned to Cooro and Senri. "The man you described as the collector doesn't sound familiar at all, but can you describe the man in the control room a little better?"

Cooro frowned. "Where the portal led to? I just noticed a man with a weird moustache. I was too busy following the man with Husky."

Senri frowned and gestured with his hands, looking like he was shaping some sort strangely shaped hat, goggles, and stringy moustache.

"This suit covered his whole body?" asked Robin.

Senri nodded.

Robin scowled. "It sounds like Professor Chang. An interdimensional portal sounds like something right up his alley, especially if someone paid him for it."

Robin turned to look at the Titans. "Starfire, with me. We're going to go check out this warehouse. Cooro, if you could lead us? I'd like everyone else back at the Tower. Take care of Nana and see if you can narrow down a list of who this collector could be. Someone tall, blonde, with lots of money and too much time. Keep an eye out for any blogs or articles about a mermaid being discovered."

* * *

No matter how much Husky thought about it, the last thing he remembered was fishing for dinner in that lake. He was completely lost as to what had happened to his friends, to himself. Now that he was thinking better, he realized his back stung, but he couldn't see the spot, directly between his shoulder blades. He couldn't quite reach it either. Well, at least he didn't seem to have anything sticking out of him, or it would've smacked into one of the glass walls by now.

It wouldn't have helped if he could see. The only trace of his experience was a small red dot, a tiny trace of a dart gun that would fade inside of a day.

Husky licked his lips and forced the panic down. _They're alright. Of course they're alright. Why wouldn't they be? The man doesn't seem too dangerous. He wouldn't… kill them. Surely not. I just have to focus on getting out of here. If I could just get some sort of weapon. A staff would be great. The man mentioned he'd open the top if I was good. I can pretend to be a good little pet for a while. I've done that before. And I only need to do it long enough to get him to open the lid… _

His eyes scanned the room, looking for a weapon he could use when he escaped the tank.

* * *

_(*) Note 1: Not a harpoon. I researched it and found out harpoons have barbed and usually detachable heads. I'm pretty sure Husky just uses a simple spear when he fishes._

_Author's Note: Please review! This is my first crossover, and between two 'worlds' that I love very much, and I'd like to do it justice! Please help me spot any OOC moments/comments, and anything else that doesn't fit in with either world. This story will be taking place in the Teen Titan universe, not +Anima's, so I'm going to have to clear up what's foreign to our little +Anima heroes and what's familiar. Reading the +Anima series, there is some degree of mechanical technology, so I think most things short of TVs and computers they should be fine with._


	3. Chapter 3

Husky was bored. Bored, bored, bored. Panic had only lasted so long. Fear had long since disappeared. Even his anger had waned over the hours.

And still that blasted man continued to read his book, occasionally setting it aside to watch Husky for a few minutes before returning to it.

It was insane. Husky wasn't even doing anything. He was simply floating in about the center of the tank, watching the man right back. Well, glaring at him.

Aggravation hadn't quite run out. The man still annoyed him.

So it was only natural that Husky's mind was occupied with reviewing his escape plans.

The room the tank was in had all sorts of things that could be used as weapons. Husky was inclined to favor the fire poker, among the implements next to the large fireplace along the far wall. And, naturally, all fireplaces had chimneys, so that would also be a way out. Husky wasn't quite as good as Cooro at climbing trees, but he was sure, between his desperation and sheer stubbornness, that he could manage scaling a chimney.

All he had to do was wait. Sooner or later the man had to open the top, if only to feed him. All Husky needed was half a second. In half a second, he was sure he could grab the edge and leap out. He would probably need another three or four seconds to allow his fish form to disappear, so he could run. Another five seconds to cross the large room and grab the fire poker, then maybe twenty seconds to knock the man unconscious. Thirty to forty if he was tougher than he looked, but Husky's skill with a staff had taken down skilled warriors, much less a single rich collector. He wouldn't try the door. After knocking the man out, he'd be up that chimney and out of the mansion or wherever he was in minutes.

Foolproof.

Actually, Husky knew better than that. There were hundreds of things that could go wrong, but at the moment a plan was a plan, and his plan happened to be at least halfway decent.

Once he was out, he'd search for and find Cooro, Nana, and Senri. That shouldn't be hard. They were undoubtedly searching for him already, and the three were quite memorable.

A knock on the door interrupted Husky's thoughts.

The man, Colin, answered. "Yes?"

The door opened, revealing a butler, of all things. A stereotypical old gray-haired man dressed in a black suit, white shirt and gloves, and well-polished shoes.

"Dinner is served, Master Canterfield," he said, bowing slightly.

"Thank you, Yeager. Tell me, what do you think of my latest prize?"

The butler, Yeager, looked over to Husky, fiercely critical eyes scanning his form where he floated in the tank. He finished his appraisal and bowed his head slightly to his master.

"Quite a beautiful find, Master Canterfield. I was not aware mermaids existed. Is it intelligent?"

In answer, Husky folded his arms and glared at the annoying old man.

Colin laughed. "It appears so, Yeager. I believe she may even be capable of speech. She was mouthing words to me earlier and trying to get me to open the top."

Yeager smiled slightly. "Doubtless planning her escape, then. How far could a mermaid get, anyhow, sir?"

Colin Canterfield frowned and looked at Husky appraisingly. "Perhaps she can transform to a human, as in the legends?" he said thoughtfully.

Husky tilted his head thoughtfully, watching the man. He allowed himself a small smile and gestured again at the lid. Maybe, just maybe he would be either stupid or overconfident enough to…

"Let's try it," said Colin, laughing slightly. "Why not? If she really can turn human, it would make her that much more entertaining as company. Why, she could join me for dinner!" He casually went to the side of the tank and up a series of steps.

"Sir, this may not be the wisest…"

Thinking quickly, Husky put on what he knew was an adorable smile as the collector tapped a code into the side of tank and pressed down on a pressure point. The entire lid shifted, then Colin pulled it to the side and it shifted up and back, leaving a wide enough gap for Husky to get through.

Husky stuck his head out of the water and reached up to the sides. He slowly pulled himself out, and half-propped himself on the edge of the tank while he shifted back.

Colin watched in awe as the fish scales, instead of melting and transforming, seemed to disappear. Starting at the tips of the mermaid's tail, it dissolved scale by scale in a sort of wave that traveled up the child's body.

He found it quite strange that the child was dressed in some sort of wet suit. And he still couldn't tell the child's gender.

"Can you talk?" he asked, somewhat in awe. The child was just as beautiful as a human.

"Yes," said Husky casually, leaning forward. "And I have something to ask you."

"What?" responded Colin earnestly, leaning forward.

"How do you like it?"

"Like what?"

With that, Husky lunged forward, grabbed Colin by the shoulders, and shoved him into the tank. The collector fell in with a tremendous splash.

"BEING STUFFED IN A TANK!" shouted Husky, as he leapt down the stairs leading to the top of the tank. The butler, Yeager, watched with mild surprise, standing in front of the door. Following his plan, Husky dashed for the fireplace.

While Colin cursed and Yeager guarded the door and watched with mild surprise, Husky grabbed the long fire poker and ducked into the fireplace, only to freeze.

There was no chimney.

_What kind of fireplace doesn't have a chimney? What was this, DECORATION?_

Husky heard Colin cussing and spun around, seeing the now very angry man climbing out of the tank, bathrobe sopping wet and probably adding a good few pounds of deadweight.

Panicked, Husky turned towards the door and started for it. He'd have to hurt the old man, but no choice…

He ignored it as the man pulled some sort of metal object out of a leather pouch of some sort at his side and aimed it at him. He was quick enough to dodge an old man's swings.

BANG!

The shot rang out, and Husky felt something slam into his thigh with a thud. In stunned pain, he tripped and crashed into the ground, the fire poker falling from his grasp.

_Ouch… What the… Ow…_

"Don't you dare damage my prize, Yeager!" shouted Colin. "Just grab her!"

"My apologies, sir, but she seemed ready and most capable of wielding her makeshift weapon."

Husky's head was buzzing. His leg hurt. But he had to get out. He desperately grabbed the fire poker and tried to get to his feet, failing hopelessly.

"Don't hurt yourself any further, mermaid," said Yeager, returning the strange metal object to that pouch-thing. "You could have quite the good life if you just settled down and accepted your situation."

Husky growled and shook the blackness from the edge of his vision. He desperately managed to get into some sort of upright position, though he couldn't put any weight on his right leg. Vaguely, he realized he was shaking. Pathetic…

Not good. He was bleeding. All over. His vision swam again at the sight. He leaned back against a bookshelf and held the poker up between him and the two men.

"Don't… you dare… touch me…" gasped Husky, his voice choked in pain, but anger and disgust lacing every word.

"And just where do you think you're going?" asked Colin in annoyance. "You can't go home."

"What… do you… mean?"

"Foolish mermaid. This isn't your world. I brought you here through a portal. There is no way back. There is nowhere to go and no one to escape to. You are alone."

Husky's eyes faltered, but his gaze strengthened with disbelief. His left leg was close to giving out, and he couldn't put any weight at all on his right, so he tightened his grip on the bookshelf with his right hand, leaning heavily, while his left continued to hold the poker up defensively.

"Don't believe me?"

Colin went over to a wall, where there were a few switches. He flicked one, and a fire sprung up in the fireplace.

Husky lost his balance in shock and crashed hard to the floor. But… how? There was no chimney! More than that, there wasn't even any _wood_!

"It's called a gas fireplace. In my world, we've discovered how to pull natural gas, a sort of fuel, directly from below the ground, through a network of pipes, and into simple appliances and the like. This switch releases the gas and lights a spark, which creates the fire. If I switch it again…" He did, and the fire disappeared. "The flow of gas stops and the fire disappears. The fire implements are merely rare antiques."

Husky scowled. Pah, so the guy knew some parlor tricks. No reason to believe something as crazy as he was in a different world.

"Still don't believe me? No matter. It will soon become obvious, especially since we'll have to treat the bullet wound in your leg."

"You… will NOT… touch… me…" gasped Husky, barely able to find the extra strength to speak, and knowing he was fast running out of time.

"Summon Dr. Marshall, Yeager."

"Of course, sir."

Husky managed to just barely stay awake, keeping the poker aimed at Colin, and soon the butler returned with another man, who indeed did look like a doctor.

"A child, Colin?" the doctor asked, giving the collector a suspicious look. "I had thought you were above kidnapping."

"A mermaid, if you must know, doctor. Ask Yeager. He saw her."

A wave of pain traveled through Husky and he whimpered, biting his lip to stop the noise. He angrily raised the poker again.

"HIM!" he shouted, thought it came out strained rather than powerful.

Colin blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I… AM A BOY!" hissed Husky, through only half-focused eyes. He was quickly losing consciousness, but fighting it every inch of the way.

"Ah, pardon me. A merman, then. Doesn't change the fact that he isn't human and is thus quite legally obtainable."

The doctor's eyes took in the wet trail from the tank and Colin's own soaked bathrobe, before settling on Yeager, who nodded. Satisfied, the doctor turned to his patient.

"Now, child, I need you to put down that poker so I can…"

"No…" whimpered the child, his beautiful blue eyes beginning to glaze over. "No… going… home…"

The doctor frowned and grabbed the poker, yanking it from the boy's weak grip and tossing it aside.

"You can't escape like that anyway, child. Relax now. It'll be better soon."

Despite himself, Husky finally blacked out.

* * *

"Lucky, lucky child. Or perhaps I should be complimenting your skill, Yeager?"

Yeager nodded at the compliment, accepting it graciously.

"How is he?" asked Colin impatiently. "How long will he be injured? Anything permanent?"

"He'll be fine in a couple weeks. It didn't even puncture anything, just ripped out a chunk of flesh. A small bit of damage to the muscle, and none to the nerves."

"How long until he can swim?"

"As he is? I'd give it at least three days for the skin to heal, and only as long as he doesn't attempt anything strenuous. If he transforms into a merman? Honestly, I have no idea. I've never treated superhumans."

"He's not a superhuman. He's a mermaid… merman I captured in another world."

"Brilliant way to dodge the legalities of the situation, Colin."

Colin scowled but didn't have a ready retort.

The doctor sighed and continued. "For now, the poor boy is drugged. He wouldn't stay unconscious, and struggled whenever he woke, so I had no choice. He's as high as a kite. Once that rather large dosage wears off, the worst should be over, so give him two of these with every meal," he handed Yeager a prescription, "and I'll be back in a week. Call me if there are any problems."

Yeager nodded and escorted the doctor out. Colin looked thoughtful.

"High as a kite, he said?"

He turned and entered the room.

Husky laid in the bed, staring up at the ceiling with glassy eyes. His eyes shifted Colin's way before returning to the ceiling.

Colin smirked. There hadn't been a trace of recognition in the boy's hazy gaze.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Myrrha…" the boy whispered. "Everyone… calls me Husky…"

"What do you like to eat?"

"… fish. Fruit… Not really picky…"

"Do you like jewels?"

"Yeah…"

"What kinds?"

It would continue for quite some time.

* * *

Cooro led Robin and Starfire out of the city and to the building where it had all started.

Or where it should have been. All that remained was a burned out husk of a structure.

The black-winged boy landed, staring at the burned ruins. Nothing remained but twisted steel pieces and blocks of masonry.

"There goes our best lead," growled Robin, irritated.

Cooro had something else in mind. While not one to stress over the little details of a situation, one sudden thought plagued him so much he had to vocalize it.

"How are we supposed to get home?" he whispered, stunned. In the back of his mind, he had just figured they would return here and force the door/portal thing back open.

Robin and Starfire met worried glanced, before Starfire pulled the winged child into her arms, hugging him close.

"All will be well, young one," she said gently. "Leave the matter in our hands. The Teen Titans will take care of this."

* * *

_Author's Note: Please review! I love the story personally, but then what author doesn't like their own work? So some feedback would be extremely appreciated!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Heavy… Don't wanna get up…_

Husky's body felt weighed down, and his thoughts were still fuzzy from his drug-induced sleep.

_How long was I sleeping? Ugh, head hurts. Why can't I move? Don't wanna leave bed anyway... Feel heavy. So tired… Can't open my eyes… Gotta wake up, though. Have to catch breakfast. Cooro and Nana had better have…_

_Wait._

_I'm in a bed?_

_I'm not camping with my friends?_

He frowned, still half-asleep, and tried to move, only to stiffen and clench his jaw as his brain registered his wounded thigh.

_My leg hurts. _

_REALLY hurts. Haven't felt… anything like this before. Ow… Oh, crap… Ow…_

"Ow…" he mumbled softly, and heard a strange shuffling sound. He opened his eyes a crack and looked down at his body. Everything was blurry, but he made out sheets and blankets.

Yeah, he really was in a bed. An enormous bed that would probably be very comfortable if he wasn't in so much pain.

Husky closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip, trying to distract himself, but it didn't help at all. Not even when he bit too hard and drew blood.

"Ah ah ah! None of that!" ordered a calm, professional-sounding voice, and Husky again opened blurry eyes as a butler reached over and gently patted the side of his face. He released his bottom lip, and the man pulled a handkerchief from his suit's breast pocket and dabbed at the boy's bleeding lip.

_He looks familiar… Who is he?_

The bleeding stopped and the man folded the handkerchief and set it on a bedside table.

"It is time for breakfast and your medication, Myrrha."

_He knows my Sailandian name. Are we back in Sailand? Is that why he's treating me so well? Wait… I don't have any position in Sailand anymore, not after becoming a +anima…_

"Who… who are you?"

"Yeager."

_Yeager. Yeager. I don't remember any… _

_HIM!_

Husky jolted and tried to sit upright, only to whimper and fall back as pain shot through his leg and his head swam. Yeager quickly set a firm hand on the child's chest, frowning at the pink flush anger and pain brought to the beautiful child's face.

"Now now, you must lie still. You would not want to reopen your wound."

"You! You're the… the ones that kidnapped me! You… you hit me with something!" accused Husky, words cold and suddenly clear blue eyes flashing, though his voice was still weak and scratchy.

"I shot you, yes. It was necessary in order to subdue you, Myrrha."

"How… do you know my name?"

"You were quite uncooperative with the doctor. In order to work on you, he was forced to drug you. Apparently you were quite talkative."

"DRUGGED?" screamed Husky, struggling to get up in spite of the incredible pain in his leg, only to have the hand press more firmly down on his chest.

"Yes. And I will resort to such matters again if you do not calm down and eat, so that you may take the medication required for your wound to heal properly."

Husky actually growled at him.

Yeager raised his eyebrows in surprise, undoubtedly thinking that perhaps this child really wasn't human after all.

"Now, Myrrha, please lie still. I will adjust the bed so that you can eat."

To Husky's surprise, the butler pulled out a strange device attached to the edge of the bed. There were several buttons on it, some shaped like arrows. He pressed an up arrow, and to Husky's alarm, the bed beneath him started shifting.

Sensing the child's panic, the butler again rested his hand on the boy's chest, holding him down until the bed readjusted to a half-upright position so that the child could eat comfortably without choking or straining himself. He lifted his hand from the child, whose blue eyes were now staring in wonder at the bed and the remote, and professionally arranged a tray-table over the child's lap.

Husky hadn't even noticed the food sitting on a table off to the right of the room, behind where the butler had been sitting at his bedside, but now that he did, he was almost overwhelmed by the delicious smell of a homemade breakfast. His stomach rumbled eagerly and he blushed. Surely being in so much pain meant that he shouldn't be hungry, right? Well, guess not.

Yeager smiled gently and brought over the tray, setting on the small table in front of the child. Husky looked in confusion from the food to Yeager, and his eyebrows knit in a frown.

"It's perfectly good food," said Yeager smiling at the child's suspicion. "The master was most insistent that we not keep you in the dark about any medications, so nothing has been added to your meal." He pulled a small bottle with a childproof cap from a pocket and opened, emptying three small, white tablets into his hand. He set the tablets on a napkin on Husky's breakfast tray.

"This is your medication. It will dull your pain to a reasonable level as well as help speed your recovery. Master Canterfield wishes you to be capable of transforming and swimming as soon as possible."

The beautiful child frowned doubtfully at the medicine, then looked back up at Yeager, clearly measuring the man up. Not finding anything immediately suspicious or dangerous about the man, he nodded to himself and reached for the glass of juice.

The butler smiled and leaned back, watching approving as the child turned his attention to the meal. Fried fish, hash browns, strawberries in cream, and two small pastries with honey drizzled over them, plus milk, water, and apple juice.

The child was very hungry, understandably as he hadn't eaten since his capture almost twenty-four hours ago, but he still ate neatly, with obvious good manners. Yeager was quite impressed. The child had been brought up well. There shouldn't be any problems, once the child accepted his new position, with Master Canterfield taking Myrrha out in public.

After questioning the drugged boy the previous day, the master excitedly had told Yeager some of what he'd found out. For example, Myrrha was actually a prince who had lost his position when he started transforming into a merman. Myrrha called it becoming a "fish +anima". He had been traveling with other "+anima" around their world. He had a solid royal education, including etiquette, pole/staff fighting, ballroom dancing, singing, mathematics, and reading, plus he'd taught himself to spear-fish for his friends. And apparently he had quite the jeweler's eye, something the master couldn't wait to test.

_Quite an accomplished young man_, thought Yeager approvingly. _A good companion for the master._

* * *

"A _what_, Colin?" asked the woman's voice on the other end of the phone.

"A research permit for an unknown mammalian marine species! I've discovered one, and I can't let anyone take it from me!"

"I'm sure you're exaggerating, Colin. It's probably some sort of rare…"

"No, Meredith! Listen to me! I've discovered a mermaid! Well, it's male, so a merman."

There was silence on the other line of the phone, then a hiss as the woman drew in a harsh breath.

"Oh, GOD, Colin! You've kidnapped an Atlantean? Do you know how much trouble you could be in?"

"It's not an Atlantean, Meredith, I swear! I've seen Atlanteans – they're either intelligent fish or basically humans that can breathe underwater. This child is half fish, half human, and can transform between the two! Just like in the stories!"

"A child? Colin, Aqua-man is never going to let this pass…" Meredith's voice said warningly.

"I'm positive it's not Atlantean, Meredith. Trust me on this. I have my doctorate in marine biology, same as you."

"Puh-lease. Your daddy bought yours."

Colin laughed. "Hey, maybe he pulled some strings to get me in, but I wrote that thesis myself!"

"So you say."

"Look, Meredith, if you doubt me, come on over and see him for yourself. He's injured right now, but in a few days he should be just fine."

"I'm telling you, it's an Atlantean."

"I am POSITIVE, Meredith! I'll explain why when you visit, okay? Just get the applications for me, please?"

"Fine, but not until after I visit. I'll be over in two hours. Don't you DARE do anything until I get there! I'll bring my lab equipment and the paperwork for the permit applications."

"Thanks, Meredith! See you in a bit!"

"Have Yeager make me snickerdoodles and I won't report you," she replied, and ended the call.

* * *

Robin, Starfire, and Cooro had gotten back late, mostly because Robin had insisted on examining the 'crime scene' in detail. They had spent hours trying to find something, anything, with no luck. Professor Chang knew all too well how to cover his tracks.

When they finally got back to the tower, it was very late and everyone else had already gone to bed. Robin thought it was a little strange that Senri and Nana had opted to sleep in the same room, but understood when he peeked in and saw a tear-soaked little girl, fast-asleep, clinging to the tall teenager, who had dozed off sitting upright with her in his lap. They must have wanted some privacy to let their grief out, and everything was probably too strange for them to be comfortable all alone. As if it was only to be expected, Cooro took the blankets off the bed and wrapped one around Nana, one around Senri, then one around himself as he snuggled up against Senri's leg.

The teenager woke up and patted Cooro's head. He noticed Robin watching and nodded, as if in thanks for bringing the boy back safely. Then he stood up, lifting the girl, and set her in the bed, pulling the covers up over her. He again sat down, this time in a more comfortable position on the floor, with his back to the bed, and fixed the blanket around himself. Cooro half-woke up and stumbled over to Senri's side before immediately falling into a deep sleep, his head leaning against the teenager's arm.

Robin came in and knelt in front of the teenager. "Did you guys find anything on your side?" he whispered.

Senri shook his head sadly. He glanced up, his good eye looking hopefully at Robin.

"We didn't find anything either."

The anticipation dropped from the teenager's eyes. Robin frowned as the boy took out a small, leather book from where it'd been tucked into his belt and flipped it open.

Senri turned to the page with the pressed flower that represented Husky. No tears fell, but his expression was so full of worry and concern, it was heartbreaking.

"Husky," the teenager whispered, gently stroking the flower along its stem.

"We'll find him. Don't worry," said Robin, not sure why he was comforting someone that was probably a few years older than himself as he would a small child, but it seemed appropriate, and Senri seemed to appreciate the effort.

Robin got to his feet and left the room, closing the door behind him. As only to be expected, instead of going back to his own room for some sleep, he went to the Titans' operations room and reviewed all the research and information Cyborg had input earlier. There wasn't much there, but it was a starting point. Hopefully a better starting point than Professor Chang's abandoned lab.

* * *

Starfire woke up bright and early, brushed her hair, washed her face, got dressed, and headed straight for the kitchen, wondering if she would find Cyborg cooking sausage or Beastboy frying tofu-eggs. The two had been having another 'first one up gets to make breakfast' race the last week or so.

To her surprise, there was an adorable blond-haired girl in an apron busy in the kitchen. The incredible smell of fresh-baked bread filled the kitchen, and a black-haired boy was sitting on the table, cutting apples into various cute shapes with the greatest of concentration while juice splattered all over himself and the table. The tall gray-haired teenager was doing something with some sort of meat over the stove that smelled absolutely heavenly.

"You're up!" cheered Cooro excitedly, jumping off the table and holding out a bunny-shaped apple piece. "You sure sleep in late!"

Starfire frowned in confusion, but took the apple. "The time is currently eight o'clock a.m. I have not slept in at all. What is normal for you children?"

"Once the sun is up, we get moving," said Nana, taking a fresh loaf from the oven. "Very few people use watches or clocks where we're from, unless you run a shop or work for the government." She set the loaf on a rack to cool and turned excited eyes to Starfire.

Starfire looked around the room, spotting Robin in the corner, deep in thought as he stared at information on the computer there. Cyborg was eagerly devouring fresh bread, sliced apples shaped like birds, and whatever it was that Senri had made. Apparently he would've won the race, since Beastboy was not in the room.

Beastboy came in yawning, and walked right past Star into the kitchen, making a beeline for the fridge. Suddenly he froze, sniffing the air and turning to Senri with a look of awe on his face.

"Tofu?" he asked, excitedly.

"No way," said Cyborg dismissively. "This is some sort of sausage. I'm sure of it! Gotta be, since it's DEE-LICIOUS!"

"Don't knock my nose, I'd know the smell of tofu anywhere!" argued Beastboy, transforming into a purring kitten and jumping up onto the counter next to Senri before turning back. "Aren't I right, Senri?"

Senri blinked in confusion.

"He doesn't know," explained Cooro.

Cyborg froze, a forkful of the mystery-meat halfway to his mouth.

"How can one not know?" asked Starfire, looking concerned.

"Ah, he doesn't usually read! But he's very good at cooking," explained Nana casually. "Anything he makes tastes delicious! One time, he caught a snake…"

Cyborg frowned at the idea of eating snake, but the meat in front of him just smelled and tasted sooooooooo good! After a second of staring at the food, he shrugged and continued eating.

"Well, what is it then? Where'd you find it, Senri?" asked Beastboy.

Senri frowned and pointed at the refrigerator, then pointed to the trash.

"A rat, perhaps? He caught it in the trash?" asked Starfire, curiosity brimming in those big, green eyes.

"Rat is yummy, just be careful of the fur," said Cooro, casually, popping a fish-shaped apple piece into his mouth.

"No, no," laughed Nana. "He took something from the icebox, and threw what he didn't use into the garbage bin."

Beastboy went over to the trashcan, and pulled out an empty box. "HA!" he shouted, jumping up and waving around the empty tofu-box. "I TOTALLY WIN!"

"No WAY!" shouted Cyborg, jumping to his feet and staring in awe at the food he'd been devouring. "This delicious meat is… tofu?"

Starfire floated over to the platter that Senri had been setting the cooked tofu on once he was done with it. She picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth.

"Mmmmm," was her only comment, as her eyes half-shut in bliss.

Beastboy eagerly grabbed a plate and scooped a couple servings worth onto it, then rushed over to the table and started eating. In seconds he was making his own sounds of delight.

"Dude, you've GOTTA tell me how you made this!" shouted the green shapeshifter happily.

Senri smiled slightly and continued cooking tofu, whatever that was. Nana took more bread over to the counter and expertly sliced it, setting a plate with butter at its side. Cooro continued cutting and shaping apples, though half of what he did went into his mouth.

Robin continued working, though Starfire helped herself to the breakfast their guests had made. When she finished, she brought some to Robin and set it beside him. He ate casually, not even noticing the taste, his eyes glued to the computer monitor.

Eventually Raven appeared, immediately pouring herself some herbal tea, but even she wasn't able to resist the lure of fresh baked bread and the tofu masterpiece Senri had made, though she didn't allow her expression to reveal how good the meal was.

"You… have adapted rather quickly," she commented, seeing the ease with which Nana and Senri navigated the kitchen.

Nana smiled. "It's not that different. Icebox with no ice, oven and stove with no fire, but they still work mostly the same way, just a little faster. We do pretty much all our own cooking, so that's no problem, really."

"You have been taking care of yourselves a very long time?" asked Starfire, in between bites of fresh bread, which she'd naturally smothered in mustard.

"Yep," said Cooro. "My parents died before I was born, Nana's dad was a drunk who tried to kill her, and Senri lost his memory, but we found out his dad actually was taken over by an evil +anima and tried to kill him. Husky's parents are alive, but he can't live with them after he almost drowned and turned into a fish +anima, since +anima are slaves in his country and his dad's the king and all."

Cyborg, Beastboy, Starfire, and Raven stared at the boy. Another word, yes, but what he was describing was just…

"Cooro!" scolded Nana, looking hurt. "That was more than they needed to know!"

"Actually," said Robin, finally turning around. "That sort of information could be very important. You have all had traumatic experiences?"

"That's how you become a +anima," said Nana, her hands clenching her apron. "When you think you're going to die, and you see an animal and just want to be them so, so bad…"

Cooro shrugged and popped another apple piece in his mouth. "I don't remember, myself. Apparently I…"

"COORO!" interrupted Nana. "Please don't tell them your story! At least not at the breakfast table!"

"Okay, okay."

Raven frowned as she got a visual from the thoughts of all the children of some sort of funeral rite, where birds were… oh, yuck, _eating_ a corpse… She quickly shoved the visual aside and sipped her tea, feeling a little sick.

"We're going to need to know more about your missing friend," said Robin, coming over to the table. "A better description of how he looks, for one."

"Ah," said Cooro, fumbling and pulling out a set of crayons and a piece of paper that he'd found earlier. He set a half-carved apple aside and plopped into a seat at the table, and began scribbling. He actually was pretty decent, except for the fact that he kept getting juice splatters all over the drawing.

"He's _very_ pretty," said Nana.

"He has blue hair?" asked Raven, frowning as she looked at Cooro's drawing.

"It's a sort of silver, like a white-silver? But it shines blue in the sun," explained Nana. Robin nodded, taking out a notepad of his own and jotting that down.

"He's a few months older than me…" she continued.

"And how old are you ?" asked Robin.

"Twelve," she responded.

"I'm thirteen," said Cooro, not realizing that Robin had only wanted the age as a reference. "And Senri's seventeen."

"How tall?"

"Between Cooro and me, and he's very thin, even though he eats as much as the rest of us and swims all the time."

"So he's skinny?" asked Raven.

"No, he doesn't look like he's starving or anything," replied the girl, frowning.

"Eye color?" asked Robin.

"Blue," answered Cooro, in a sing-song voice as he continued his picture.

"A very light blue," added Nana. "With a bit of purple. And they're really big."

"Skin color?"

"Very light," responded Nana. "He doesn't tan at all."

"Any birthmarks?"

"None at all," answered Cooro. "Even when we take a bath."

"Any distinguishing traits at all? Other than his hair and eyes?" asked Robin.

"He's_ really, really_ pretty," said Cooro and Nana together, saying it as if it were a fact rather than a matter of opinion. Senri nodded, apparently agreeing that Husky's 'prettiness' was the easiest way to recognize him.

Raven and Robin exchanged looks. The two children seemed to be describing a doll or cartoon character, not a person.

Cooro finished his drawing and passed it over. Actually, there were two drawings, one of Husky in his +anima form, and one as a human, scowling and carrying a staff over his shoulder.

"I made sure to include the Cooro Hitting Staff!" said Cooro, sounding proud of himself, though the statement drew a blush from Nana and stares from all the Titans but Robin, who simply filed away in his mind that they boy apparently used a staff as a weapon, and wasn't averse to smacking Cooro with it.

The Titans crowded around the pictures of the pretty, blue-haired, blue-eyed twelve year old. Even in crayon, you could easily make out the fine features of the boy's face, the perfect slimness of his body, the incredible flow and beauty of his fish form. It really did seem to be some sort of doll, even with the staff and frown in the human picture.

"You _sure_, absolutely _sure_, that your friend is a boy?" asked Beastboy, staring in awe. If he hadn't been told it was a boy, he would've fallen in love right there. As it was, his eyes were glued in place.

"Yes," said Nana firmly, not going into detail.

"Why is the child's hair longer in the mermaid picture? And, if he is male, why is he wearing jewelry?" asked Starfire, full of innocent curiosity.

"That's Husky in his mermaid princess costume," said Cooro happily. "Isn't he pretty? That's how he looked when I first met him! I even drew in his pearls! He loved those pearls, but not as much as his sapphires."

"It's a wig," Nana explained, feeling embarrassed for Husky even though he wasn't there. "And he said these earrings," she tapped the human side, "were a gift from his parents. He never takes them off."

Robin nodded and got to his feet, taking the picture with him. "Thank you. This at least gives me a start."

"Rob? What would you like us to do?" asked Cyborg, frowning warningly. Robin sounded like he was once again planning to try solve the case entirely on his own.

Robin turned and opened his mouth, but Raven interrupted.

"Beastboy can keep the kids entertained," she said, watching him carefully, her meaning clear. Their +anima guests did not need four babysitters.

Robin shut his mouth as he thought for a minute, then nodded. "I agree. Beastboy can watch our visitors. Cyborg, continue searching for suspects who match the description of the kidnapper. Starfire, patrol Jump City for anything suspicious. Raven, do you think you might be able to scan for this child? Even though you've never met him?"

Raven frowned. "Perhaps. I'll have to read Nana, Cooro, and Senri for clues as to any unique signatures from their world or from being +anima, and I'll probably also need to know more about his personality…"

"Get to it," said Robin dismissively, turning and leaving the room, already staring at the picture of the missing boy and mumbling plans for the search to himself. Starfire and Cyborg said their goodbyes and also left the room.

"You heard the girl," said Beastboy, plopping on the sofa and gesturing for the +anima gang to do the same. "What's Husky like?" he asked, a little too eagerly.

Cooro frowned and tilted his head, not seeming to understand the question. "Husky is Husky," he commented, shrugging.

Senri looked blank.

Nana frowned and began ticking traits off on her fingers. "Stubborn. Immature. Rude. Inconsiderate. Selfish…"

Beastboy's smile dropped, while one actually crept up on Raven's face.

_Well, not such a doll after all_, she thought.

"…Jumps to conclusions, doesn't admit when he's wrong, hates girls, always runs off on his own, quick to lash out…"

Nana hesitated, a hand squeezing the little flower pendant on her necklace. "… And a really, really good friend," she added softly.

"That should be enough," interrupted Raven, hiding her smile. "Excuse me. I must go meditate."

* * *

_Author's Note: As always, totally open to ideas/comments! If you enjoyed, please review! Thank you!_


	5. Chapter 5

Husky frowned at the chessboard on the tray table over his lap.

"Do you know what this is?" asked Yeager, as he finished setting up the pieces on the board.

"Vaguely. I believe I've seen something similar before. It's some sort of strategy game, right?"

"Yes. We call it chess."

"Do you want to play so badly?" asked the merman child, frowning as he looked up at the butler.

Yeager chuckled and sat down in his chair at the side of the bed.

"I was thinking you would want something to play. You are a child, after all."

"Glad you can tell I'm human," grumbled Husky, picking up and examining the black king.

"Well, I don't know about that. You aren't from this world after all, so we'll have to see what Dr. Johnson has to say."

Husky scowled and set the piece down. "Another world. What garbage. And I thought the doctor's name was Marshall."

"There are different types of doctors, Myrrha. Dr. Marshall is a medical doctor. Dr. Johnson is a marine biologist. She studies…"

"I know what a marine biologist is. Proof that you think I'm sort of _animal_. A lesser creature only suitable as a slave!" said Husky angrily, his voice beginning to rise.

"That is awfully harsh, Myrrha."

"Harsh is locking me in some stupid glass tank to be gawked at all day."

"I shall speak with the young master if you find the idea so disagreeable."

Husky's angry glower disappeared as a look of surprise took over his pretty face. "What?"

"I'm sure the master does not wish you to be uncomfortable."

"Why would he care? I'm a pet, right? He just wants to ogle me."

"You would have to ask Master Canterfield that yourself, Myrrha. Now, the rules of chess are quite simple."

Husky looked down at the chessboard, studying the pieces as Yeager explained what moves each piece could make and how you had to capture the king to win. The information helped him ignore the pain in his right thigh and he found himself relaxing while listening to Yeager's lower-range, controlled voice as he lectured on the fundamental of chess.

"So there's only one queen, like in Astaria," said the beautiful child.

Yeager frowned. "Polygamy is frowned upon in most societies in our world."

"Polygamy? More than one wife? Rulers don't have harems here?"

"Absolutely not! The practice is extremely cruel and disrespectful to women, as well as painful to any children involved," insisted the butler, stiffening at the very idea.

To his surprise, a strange smile flicked across the boy's face as he picked up the queen.

"Yeah, it is," he said softly, in a tone brimming with experience rather than philosophy.

Yeager frowned, thinking about the boy's comment and the fact that the child was supposed to be a prince. "Was your mother…?" He quickly cut himself off. "I apologize. That is no business of mine."

"Yeah. My mom was," Husky answered simply, replacing the queen and moving a pawn forward.

"I am sorry," said the butler, making his own move.

"Don't be. It's none of your business, right?" said Husky, smirking slightly and moving another pawn.

Maybe it was the medication, maybe it was the food, or maybe it was the conversation, but he found the fact that this man had wounded him slipping to the back of his mind as the game continued.

* * *

Meredith Johnson was, reluctantly, the best friend of Colin Canterfield. They had met while both were undergraduate students working towards their doctorates in marine biology. While it had been Colin's third doctorate, as he had way too much time on his hands and (at the time) a daddy to pay for it all, getting that degree had been Meredith Jones' dream since she was a middle-class child reading books about dolphins and begging to visit aquariums. Naturally, they had not got on well at all. Unnaturally, Meredith had caught Colin's eye as a decent person not blinded by his wealth or impressed with his status and education, and he'd begged to be her friend even if she wouldn't tolerate anything more.

She continued to put up with the eccentric brat, always obsessed with collecting the rarest and possessing the most interesting, and had done so down to this day, thanks in large part to Yeager's fantastic coffee and wonderful cookies.

Actually, this wasn't even the first time Colin had begged her to come over to see his later acquirement, though it certainly was the first time that she was worried about the legality of his possession of it. Which was why the twenty-eight year old marine biologist brought over all the equipment she could think of to prove to Colin that he had found (and captured) an Atlantean. The sooner she proved the point to him, the sooner he could return the child and beg forgiveness of Aqua-man, the king of the Atlanteans and a core member of the League of Justice. Hopefully they could have this resolved before it turned political or, in worst case scenario, into a war between land and sea.

She was about to leave her lab when she decided, on the two percent chance Colin was actually right, to grab the permit applications. Just in case. After all, if Colin was actually right (and hey, she was quite sure pigs could be scientifically engineered to fly) this could be an incredible scientific breakthrough.

* * *

"Checkmate!" declared Husky proudly, sliding his bishop forward.

"Well done, Myrrha," said Yeager, actually quite surprised that he'd been beaten by a child that might not even be human, and moreover on apparently the first time the child had played the game. He began returning the pieces back into their starting places and when the doorbell rang.

"That must be Dr. Johnson. Excellent timing," said the butler, finishing straightening the pieces, then lifting the board and setting it on the side table. He quickly and efficiently removed the tray table from over Husky's lap, folding it up and leaning it against the bed, then left, presumably to answer the door. The door clicked shut behind him, leaving Husky alone and unsupervised.

Husky frowned. "A signal to let the householder know a guest has arrived," he mumbled to himself. "A good idea, as there might not always be a servant close enough to hear a knock." Then he shrugged. "Not that I care. I won't be needing one. Now…" he frowned and tried to move, only to grimace as a flash of pain stabbed through his wounded leg.

_Nope, can't let it bother me,_ he thought, almost whimpering as he pushed the blankets off his lower half and turned to hang his legs over the side of the bed.

Every movement burned, and every time he had to move his injured leg it felt like fire burst deep in his thigh, flaring through bone, muscle, and nerves.

He had to bite back a scream as he pushed himself off the bed and onto his good foot, which almost buckled beneath his weight. He was still pathetically weak, even after all that medication and sleep.

_Nope, not screaming. Gotta keep quiet. Probably only have a couple minutes while the butler greets the guest…_ he reminded himself, ignoring the sweat pouring down his face and back as he limped towards the door, making his way along the walls and furniture and almost crying from the effort every tiny wobbling hop or half-step took.

The door was locked.

Of course it was. Tears stung Husky's eyes as he pounded angrily on the door with a fist and slunk to the ground, too weak to make his way back to the bed. He sat awkwardly on the carpet, trying not to injure his right leg any more – though he could see the blood seeping through the bandage, so it was probably too late anyway. He tried desperately not to cry as he stared at the door.

_My head hurts. My leg hurts. I'm weak, probably from blood loss and the medication. I can't get out of here. I don't even know what I would do if I did get out, because I don't know where I am, let alone where my friends are… My friends…_

_I miss them. _

He allowed his mind to drift to Cooro, Nana, and Senri. His friends. His family. What would they be doing if this hadn't happened? Maybe stopped to rest in a town? If they had, maybe Cooro, Senri, and he would have gotten jobs as laborers, and Nana usually found work as a waitress. Would they stay at an inn for a change, or camp out to save gillah? Maybe they'd have met a nice family who'd lend them a couple beds for the night. Nana would probably be feverishly knitting new clothes for the winter, and Cooro would be flying up into trees to munch on stolen apples, and Senri would just smile and maybe pick a flower to remember whatever little boy or girl he had befriended in the town… And himself? He'd be browsing the market for pretty jewels and hiding whichever ones he bought in his pouch so that Nana wouldn't see them and tease him about it. Or worse – Cooro see them and tell him how pretty they'd look on him.

_I really, really miss them. _

* * *

Husky was still sitting there when the door swung open and Yeager walked in, followed by the tall, blonde man that had kidnapped him, and some woman Husky didn't recognize. Canterfield looked different when he wasn't in a bathrobe, more like a wealthy businessman and less like an obsessive collector.

"Myrrha!" shouted Colin, alarmed at seeing blood clearly showing through the bandage around his prize's exposed right thigh. He rushed forward, but Yeager held up a hand to block his master at seeing the nasty glare Husky gave the young master.

"Myrrha," said Yeager, sighing as he knelt and lifted the child before he could protest. He carried the beautiful child back to the bed and laid him down.

"I believe I instructed you not to be moving," said Yeager, as he opened the drawer and pulled out clean bandages, antiseptic, a bottle of water, and a hand towel.

Husky turned his head to glare at the wall as Yeager undid the bandage around his wounded thigh and cleaned the mess. "You could've mentioned the door was locked. Then I wouldn't have bothered."

"I'll be sure to do that next time," replied the butler seriously.

Colin worried as he hovered at the child's bedside, but relaxed as he saw the wound was only bleeding, that there was no more serious damage.

"This is the Atlantean child?" demanded Meredith. "Why is he injured?"

"One, he's not an Atlantean," replied Colin. "Two, he attempted a rather violent escape. I'll tell you the whole story later."

Husky frowned as he followed the conversation. The lady must be this Dr. Johnson, he decided. And she thought he was something called an Atlantean?

Meredith ignored Colin, or at least appeared to, and knelt near the head of Husky's bed to meet his large blue eyes.

_Such an incredibly beautiful child,_ she thought. _No wonder Colin said he'd thought the child was a girl._ Without thinking, she stroked the child's smooth silver hair in a motherly gesture.

"Are you an Atlantean, child?" she asked, trying to be gentle.

"No," said Husky, frowning at her in confusion. "I'm a +anima. My home country is Sailand, but I've been living in Astaria with my friends."

The marine biologist frowned. She'd never heard of +anima, nor of the countries Sailand and Astaria. While Yeager tended the child's wounded leg, she examined the child's neck for gills – none, though the wave-shaped tattoos gave her pause. No scales either, or double eyelids, or webbing between his fingers or toes. How was this remotely a mermaid?

"Half-fish?" she asked doubtfully, glancing at Colin.

"He transforms back and forth," explained the wealthy collector. "Just like the mermaids of legends. Didn't I mention that earlier?"

"Well, if you say so," she answered apprehensively, pulling out a needle to draw a blood sample. Husky's eyes widened at the large needle and he tried to jerk away as she grabbed his arm, but Yeager leaned over and held the boy's arm still as Meredith skillfully drew what she'd need for the tests.

"That hurt," grumbled the child, pulling his arm to his chest protectively.

"I shouldn't need any more," said Meredith. "Can you transform into a mermaid for me?"

"Fish +anima," corrected Husky. "And why?"

_Ah, so a +anima means the ability to transform somewhat into an animal,_ Meredith realized. _Which means there must be more types. Hmm, maybe he is from another world._

"The sooner Dr. Johnson reaches a conclusion, the sooner Master Canterfield may reach a decision on what to do with you," Yeager answered.

Husky frowned, knowing he really wasn't supposed to transform while he was injured, but figuring the sooner he figured out what the collector had planned, the sooner he could plan his own escape.

He transformed. It was always awkward changing without being in water, but he allowed his anima to transform him, first around his neck and chest, traveling downward and forming his dorsal and pectoral fins, and lastly into a long, elegant tail with an angry-looking dark red mark on its right side, over where his wounded thigh had been. The process only took about a second, but the adults' eyes were glued on him the whole time.

Meredith's mouth dropped open at the stunning beauty of the creature in front of them, and she nearly grabbed the water on the side table to dump over the mermaid's head before she realized the child was still breathing. As if reading her mind, or no doubt comprehending the reason for her hand on the handle of the water pitcher, Husky glared at her warningly.

"I can breathe air just as fine as breathe underwater," he said, his voice full of annoyance and discomfort at the attention.

Meredith approached and ran her hands down the child's chest, feeling the grooves of his gills gently, frowning at the exposure of the night shirt he'd been wearing that still covered his arms. He did have gills, or something very like them, but… surely he had to be a mammal? She raised a hand to feel the child's forehead, frowning at the heat. His temperature didn't seem to have changed any, and the slightly labored breathing was no different from when he was a human – so it was undoubtedly just because of pain from his leg… tail? wound, not overworked lungs.

Husky shifted awkwardly as she ran her hands down his fins and tail. The doctor leaned over, carefully studying the shape and type of scales, kneading with her hands to feel the muscles beneath. To her surprise, she felt nothing that shouldn't be there in a marine creature's tail. She had been expecting to still feel his legs underneath some sort of wrap, but it truly felt like he had completely changed. She could even feel the bone if she pressed down hard on his tail.

"You can breathe underwater?" she mumbled to herself, again returning to frown at his gills. "Do you breathe through your mouth?"

Husky looked confused and uncomfortable. "I breathe the same way I always do. It just doesn't burn like it did before I was a +anima."

"Do you have to come up to the surface periodically?" This was a trick question. It was possible that those were not gills, after all, because mammalian sea creatures really shouldn't have gills. And surely mermaids should be mammals?

"No," replied Husky. He usually breached to check on his friends (or yell at Cooro) and what was going on above water, but he didn't really have to.

"What's the longest you've stayed underwater?"

"About… two weeks." _When I had to make my way through the underground canals to the sea,_ he added to himself. Those were dark, lonely memories full of desperation, hunger, anxiety, and raw fear. Even when he had come to a pool or open bath, he hadn't dared break the surface for fear of being spotted. Being recognized.

_Probably not a mammal, then_, thought Meredith. _No mammal can go that long without coming up for air. Plus the scales are definitely related to fish, but his tail appears mammalian in shape, and how could I explain his arms, neck, and head?_

She patted the beautiful child on the head, which only made the pretty child glare at her. "I'll run those tests and see what I come up with," she said, standing up and turning to Colin. "Though, and I hate myself for doing so, but I think I agree with you. I doubt this child is Atlantean."

Husky let his fish anima fade, turning back into a human. His head ached, and his leg still hurt. He closed his eyes and started to fall asleep.

* * *

"Okay, guys, I know just what to do while we wait for the others! Two words – movie marathon!" cheered Beastboy, rushing over to the DVD tower and flipping through the cases happily.

"What's a movie?" asked Cooro.

"A marathon is a race, right?" asked Nana. "How do we do that inside?"

"Movies are the second greatest invention of man! First is the TV, and third is video games! Fourth is comic books, if you're curious. Tofu doesn't count as an invention, since it's one of the seven wonders of the modern world."

The looks on the three faces were slightly blank at all the confusing words, but seemed to be accepting of his explanation.

"And a movie marathon?" asked Nana.

"That just means watching a bunch of movies in a row – oh, Startravels VI! You guys will love this one!"

He slipped in the disk and bounded over to sit with the other three on the couch. The threesome almost jumped when the movie started, alarmed at the picture on the screen and the music out of nowhere.

"Oh, so _this_ is a movie! Neat!" whispered Cooro all too loudly.

"Absolutely!"

"Why is that man metal?"

"Oh, that's not a man. That's a robot."

"What's a robot?"

"A machine, well, more of a computer. But it can move and talk and do stuff."

"Computer?"

"That lady talks funny."

"That's because she's an alien. She's from Nebulous Marsicus, so she talks with a French accent and carries a miniature drone-bot everywhere."

"Alien?"

"Nebulous Marsicus?"

"Drone? Is that some kind of bug?"

"French?"

"Does 'bot' stand for something?"

"Just watch the movie – you'll figure it out."

They didn't. The questions continued, and eventually Beastboy gave up on the idea of a sci-fi flick. The whole concept was WAY too advanced for these kids from another world.

"Let's try something else. How about Tattle Spunkies? It's a great anime from Japan about little kittens that battle mice and dogs!" He continued as he swapped discs. "They have to protect their world from being overridden by the rival clans of pets, all while keeping their identities secret from their owners!"

The show began, this time with only squeals from Nana, oohs from Cooro, and an admiring gaze from Senri at how adorable the kittens were. Until they began pulling out missiles and hammers and laser cannons and attacking each other and everything else in sight.

"S-scary…" whimpered Nana, ducking behind Senri.

"It's all pretend," said Beastboy, frowning. "No-one really gets hurt."

Senri seemed to enjoy watching the little kittens, even when they carried weapons of mass destruction.

Cooro, however, was bored to tears. Why on earth would he want to watch drawing of kittens on a screen when he could PLAY! He had to DO something! He whipped out his wings and tackled Beastboy to the ground.

"Let's race! Race race race race!" he cheered. "Come on, please?"

"Wait – the movie!"

Senri and Nana both seemed excited at the prospect of a race and had stopped paying attention to the TV entirely. This was not going to work. He needed to show them something more exciting! Something that would glue them to their seats.

"Maybe later," grumbled Beastboy, untangling himself from Cooro and his wings, then swapping the anime with one of his favorite classic horror films.

Not thirty seconds into the movie, a black and white film about vampires, Nana screamed.

Well, shrieked. In decibels so high, the TV screen cracked, the glass in the windows and cases shattered, and Cooro, Senri, and Beastboy dropped into unconsciousness.

Senri recovered rather quickly, after only about a minute, to see Nana whimpering and hiding behind the couch, her wings covering her head as the horror movie played on even with the cracked screen.

Senri scowled and formed his bear claw. That _thing_ was not allowed to hurt his friends!

* * *

Beastboy woke a good half hour later with ears still ringing. He found himself surrounded by a glaring Raven, a worried Starfire, a laughing Cyborg, and a very annoyed Robin.

"What're you guys all doing here?" he asked groggily, sitting up. "I totally got this under control."

"I heard a supersonic scream from the other side of town and came back to investigate the source," said Starfire. "I had no idea our friend Nana could make such a hideous screech! But she was most apologetic."

"As for the rest of us," said Raven dryly, "one kind of notices a sound like that, especially when accompanied by the shattering of glass."

Cyborg smirked and tossed the DVD case for the horror flick into Beastboy's lap. "Not the brightest idea, little man. What were you thinking?"

Beastboy caught the movie and frowned. "Well, I was watching movies like this at Nana's age, and I was totally cool with it."

"And I suppose you completely forgot what Cooro said about Nana's dad trying to kill her?" asked Raven, raising an eyebrow.

"Dude, I didn't do anything wrong. It's a cheesy black and white flick from the 50s!"

"Don't cause trouble," said Robin coldly. "This is a serious matter. Your bad judgment interrupted our searches."

"Um, where's the kids anyway?" asked Beastboy, looking around. Robin gestured towards the couch in front of what used to be their TV.

The three +animas were sitting on in a group, Nana blushing bright red and looking like she'd been crying, Cooro hugging her and patting her back, Senri watching them protectively. The large bear +anima looked over and glared at Beastboy.

And the poor TV was even worse off then he'd thought. How on earth did that happen? It looked like it'd been… torn off the wall and mauled…?

Cyborg noticed what Beastboy's attention had strayed to and explained. "Apparently Senri decided the TV was some sort of threat. I have a feeling we shouldn't get another until this is all over with."

Beastboy's mouth dropped open in horror. The ultimate punishment for his mistake. No TV!

"Why don't you take them to the park of playing?" asked Starfire.

"Can't… can't we help search?" asked Nana timidly.

Robin shook his head. "Not unless one of us has gotten a lead."

"Not me," said Cyborg. "I can't believe how many tall, blonde, rich guys there are in and around Jump City."

"I was only just entering my trance when I was interrupted," said Raven.

"I caught three thieves within the mall of shopping," said Starfire. "I did not see anything else."

"Let us help!" exclaimed Cooro, his dark eyes large and pleading. "It's Husky! Please please please!"

"They can help me meditate," said Raven suddenly, realizing this 'not helping' was probably one of the reasons the boy was so hyper.

"They can?" asked Robin doubtfully.

"Their signatures and resolve will help me locate and identify their friend. That is… provided they can sit still?"

Robin suddenly grinned, then quickly hid it. "Ah, but that is a very difficult thing to ask, Raven. Your meditation requires absolute stillness and silence. That is probably too much to ask of…"

"We'll do it!" said Nana desperately, eyes full of hope and determination.

"I can sit still! And be quiet! It's for Husky!" said Cooro, practically begging.

Of course, Senri wouldn't be a problem, so they didn't need to wait for a response from the quiet teenager.

"In that case, Beastboy can join Starfire on patrol," said Robin, then met Raven's eyes with a total 'Are you sure you can handle them?' expression.

The look on her face was clearly an 'I'm not Beastboy. I can handle a few kids,' reply.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Please review! It's okay if you don't totally love it - I understand that creating a great story is a process requiring critical input from peers! Advice/ideas/comments/etc always highly valued and taken into consideration! Thanks for reading and double thanks if you choose to review! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note/Disclaimer (applies to previous, current, and future chapters): I make no claims as to any knowledge of forensic/anatomical/biological science. I tried to do some research on the subject, but couldn't even get a clear answer on what exactly was possible from genetic and/or DNA testing, so I gave up and went with what sounded plausible. Feel free to correct me if you are familiar with these subjects, or you can 'suspend your disbelief' and treat it as another aspect of what's possible in the DC Comics universe. Also, if you do have knowledge of what sort of testing a biologist is likely to put Husky through, feel free to send me information/ideas. The REAL tests start next chapter, and honestly I could use some help._

* * *

Husky was jolted awake when the door to his room slammed and a couple people started raising their voices.

"It doesn't make sense! I SAW him transform!" shouted a woman's voice angrily. "WHERE did you get that child?"

_Yelling. Shouting. Who is…? _

He looked in shock around the room, it taking a second for him to remember where he was and what was going on. A man… Yeager was sitting in a chair at his bedside, casually reading a book – or at least appearing to. The older man's eyebrows were knitted in a frown and his attention seemed to be elsewhere.

It all came flooding back and Husky groaned and grabbed a spare pillow, yanking it over his head and grumbling into it. This blasted place. This blasted room. With a bum leg and more crazy people who insist he's a mermaid.

"I TOLD you! He's from another world!"

"LOOK at this! Look at it!"

"WHAT are you so upset about?"

The butler shut his book with a smack and deliberately raised his voice. "Ah, Myrrha! Good to see you're awake! Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"Water," grumbled Husky, lowering the pillow. "And tell those idiots to shut up. My head hurts."

The door opened and the scientist lady from before, Johnson or something, stormed in, that Canterfield guy right behind her, flipping through a stack of paper. Her face was flushed in aggravation, and Canterfield's face was defensive and hurt.

Yeager made a show of fetching a glass and a pitcher of water from the sidetable, filling the glass, raising Husky's bed so he sat upright, and handing the glass to the child. In that time, Meredith seemed to calm down a bit, and Colin took a seat on the edge of Husky's bed while he poured over the data in his hands.

"I must excuse myself to prepare lunch," said Yeager politely, bowing slightly. "If that will be all?"

"We're fine, thank you, Yeager," said Colin, not looking up from the pages before him. Meredith was staring at Husky, and took the seat at his bedside that Yeager had been sitting in. The butler left, shutting the door behind him.

Husky rolled his eyes and took a sip of water. Meredith continued to stare at him, as if doing so would give her all the answers she needed. After a couple minutes, he broke the silence.

"So what doesn't make sense?" he asked, not sounding particularly interested.

"You," replied Meredith, suddenly frowning. She sighed and gestured at where Colin was examining her reports and data she'd gathered from the merchild's blood.

The beautiful silver-haired child smirked, apparently pleased with the idea that others found him a mystery.

"That blood we pulled from you was worthless. All the data shows you're completely human."

Husky almost laughed. "What did you expect? I am human," he said casually, raising the glass back to his lips.

Meredith frowned. "You said you're a +anima. Part-animal."

The child almost spat out the water he'd been drinking, his eyes wide in shock as he turned to stare at her. "You thought I was saying I was half ANIMAL? What, you've never met a +anima before? Seriously? It's not like we're rare!"

"I told you, Myrrha," interrupted Colin, still studying the reports. "Different world. There are no +anima in this world. Atlanteans, aliens, mutants, half-breeds, monsters, meta-humans, anthropomorphic creatures, all with quite distinct DNA signatures. But no +anima."

Husky and Meredith both stared at Colin, then at each other.

_Oh. Oh, no. It's… true?_

"Seriously?" he asked again, staring in earnest at Meredith, his voice trembling slightly. "You've never heard of +anima?"

"Never, and I'm a scientist."

The child's eyes seemed to widen and he fell silent. His breathing started to quicken. And Meredith quickly leaned forward to take his free hand in hers as she saw his pupils dilate and the hand holding the glass start to tremble.

_How do I get home? Where IS this? Where IS home? Nana! Cooro! Senri! How do I get HOME?_

"Calm down," she instructed. "Tell me, Myrrha. What's a +anima? How can you be both a +anima and a human?"

"+Anima ARE human!" exclaimed Husky, yanking his hand back to hold the glass tight in both hands. The water sloshed as his hands shook. "+Anima means just that – a human PLUS an anima!"

"I still don't understand, Myrrha," said Meredith softly, gently reaching over and taking the glass from the shaking child. "What's an anima?"

"Are you BLIND?" exclaimed Husky, still trying to comprehend that this was another world and not quite succeeding. This was common knowledge! Basics that even children knew!

Too far gone to even consider lying or hiding things, Husky tilted his head to the side and set a hand below the tattoo marking, one of two identical marks on either side of his neck. The beautiful, wavelike symbol that faintly resembled gills.

"THIS is an anima!" he almost shouted, staring at her as if daring her to argue, as if he absolutely couldn't believe she didn't know. "EVERY +anima has a mark like this! THIS is what transforms us! Slavers can tell just looking at it what sort of +anima you are, without even…" He trailed off, his expressive eyes skipping away from Meredith's surprised, interested face as an unbidden memory came to mind.

_The sack he had been trapped in was suddenly opened and swung upside down, sending his form, bound wrist and ankle, crashing painfully to the ground. He opened his eyes and saw himself surrounded by large men, the slave hunters who'd captured him and Senri earlier, and another man far better dressed, a slave merchant. Senri lay unconscious off to the side. _

_The merchant nodded appreciatively as he bent down. He grabbed Husky by the hair with one hand, yanking his collar down with the other. He nodded at the wave marks now in full view. _

"_A pretty fish +anima, then. We'll take him to Stella. He'll sell for more there."_

"Take me HOME," Husky demanded, shoving the memory aside. "I will NOT be treated like some pet! Never again!"

"Again?" asked Meredith, her eyes widening.

"Can't do that anyway," commented Colin casually. "I have no clue how to make portals, and the person I'd hired said he'd be disappearing once I brought something back from that other world."

Husky growled and folded his arms, silently fuming, glaring at Colin with rebellious disbelief shining in those large, light blue eyes. Meredith wisely chose to change the subject.

"Were you born that way? With your anima?"

"Of course not," grumbled the child. "Only kids get animas, and only if it's what they need to not die in whatever situation..."

"… And you?" she asked quietly.

"I… She… I almost drowned. I didn't know how to swim."

There seemed to be more to the story, but Meredith shoved it aside as unimportant.

"You were drowning, then you suddenly could swim and breathe underwater…" she whispered to herself in wonder.

"A bit more than that…" mumbled Husky, shivering at the memory despite himself. "Just when I was sure I was going to die, I looked up and saw a school of fish swimming overhead. I remember reaching for them desperately, wishing, pleading inside that I could do that…" He suddenly broke off and shook his head wildly, as if shaking the memory right out.

"Anyway, it's exactly what you need to survive. And you have to want it."

Colin started laughing and Meredith and Husky turned to glare at him.

"No, not that!" he quickly defended himself. "I just got to the part of the DNA analysis report and hypothesizes as to his race. It states that his paternal side is probably Egyptian, and his maternal side was most likely Inuit!" He chuckled again, gesturing to the child. The silver-haired, pale-skinned, blue-eyed, delicately framed child, who clearly did not look like either race or culture.

"That science still has a long way to go," said Meredith dismissively. "Back to the point," she began, turning back to Husky, "I still have no clue how you transform or what exactly it is you transform into. I don't mean "+anima", I mean more specifically how your genes, DNA, body structure, hormones, et cetera change to allow you to become a +anima. How exactly that anima works on a biological level. Do you become some sort of marine creature? Some sort of half-fish? Or maybe you just gain the traits and abilities, but are still in essence human?"

Husky shrugged dismissively. He had no idea, and honestly he couldn't care less. He could breathe underwater and swim as well as any fish, that's all that really mattered to him. "I just want to go home. My friends are looking for me. I'm sure of it."

"I told you," said Colin, almost pityingly. "We can't send you home. What's more, I wouldn't let you go even if I found a way."

"Colin!" scolded Meredith. "He's a human child!"

"I still hold that he's a mermaid. Merman. What we should've done is test his merman form, not his human form. Besides, he's practically an orphan."

Husky flushed red in insult. "My parents are still alive!" he growled.

"You can't live with them, and you can't even visit them. To all intents, you're thus an orphan. You've been traveling with a group of children with no real home anyway, so this is quite an improvement. And you'd have to get a guardian anyway if you're stuck in our world."

"I'm not staying here!"

Neither adult paid attention to his outburst.

Meredith was frowning to herself. "Okay, fine. We'll test his merman form, see exactly what it is. If it comes out as metahuman, though, we'll have to apply for metahuman research permits and arrange to acquire guardianship of him."

"That won't be difficult," replied Colin. "I have the right connections – all it will take is a phone call and I can have the paperwork here by the end of the day."

"It would be substantially easier if his merman form doesn't register as human, then we'd only need to apply for the proper permits," commented Meredith, mainly to herself, her mind spinning with various hypotheses as it tried to make sense of what exactly Husky was.

He wouldn't admit it, but Husky was getting scared. And angry. They just continued their plans, completely disregarding his desire to go home. More than that, they disregarded the possibility of his being able to go home!

"Do you still have that MRI machine? What about the CT scanner?" asked Meredith.

"Of course! I even have ultrasound equipment! We could easily hook that up to a tank to study his…"

"I don't want this."

Meredith reached over to pat him comfortingly on the head. He would be okay; she'd make sure of it. Even if he turned out to be a metahuman, Colin would take care of him. He'd be able to live permanently in the Canterfield house, attend a private school, have anything he wanted, make lots of friends, as well as contribute to science. His homesickness would fade soon enough. And if he turned out to be some sort of intelligent fish or something? Well, same thing, just he wouldn't be obligated to receive an education. She'd make sure the poor child was taken care of.

Naturally, an enraged Husky lunged over and bit her hand. Hard. Hard enough to draw blood.

* * *

Raven was quickly coming to a very clear conclusion.

Cooro was terribly annoying.

Well, in all honesty, she couldn't blame him. She knew she was really just irritated that she was getting absolutely nowhere.

They'd been 'meditating' for three hours. It was almost time to break for lunch, and they hadn't made a lick of progress. Not for lack of trying, she supposed. She slightly opened her eyes to examine the three sitting around her.

Cooro, sitting directly across from her, looked to have fallen asleep. At least he wasn't shaking his foot anymore, or tapping his fingers, or otherwise fidgeting. As if to confirm her hunch, a slight snore escaped his mouth and his head fell forward, resting against his collarbone. It was amazing he didn't tip right over. Raven sighed quietly. The boy had really been trying, and had seemed to shrink in shame every time Raven's eyes whipped open and glared at him, but he never managed to stay still for more than two minutes. He'd finally been still for over five minutes, which of course led to the state he was in now.

Senri seemed to have completely blanked out, which wasn't exactly what she had instructed. This was meditation, not yoga. They were supposed to be focusing on their friend Husky to the exclusion of everything else, picturing him in their minds and holding that image for Raven to draw on. But the large bear +anima seemed to have only managed the 'exclusion of everything' part of her instructions. He stared off into nothingness, his eyes, mind, and heart completely blank.

Nana was at least trying. Her round face and small fists scrunched up tight as she thought HARD about Husky, actually making herself quite useful as far as giving Raven something to look for. Thanks to her, Raven had a good idea of what the aura she was searching for should feel like – fiery, proud, wary, excitable, and stubborn. Of course, the girl seemed to keep getting distracted with fond memories of the time they traveled together, at which the girl's emotions would be flooded with worry, affection, and more than a little bit of attraction, but she caught herself each time and brought herself back.

Well, one thing went fairly well. Raven had a much better understanding of the nature of anima, a sort of supernatural gift from the creatures of their world unto children desperately in need. A sort of addition to their inner self that harmonized with each unique child and become exactly what he or she so desperately desired. Within Nana, beat the second heart of a bat, one who would grant her the means to travel in the dark, to flee as fast as possible through a great amount of obstacles. Within Senri's mind, a terribly strong bear fought for control, though it was somewhat blurry and probably insane, which explained why the teenager usually came across as detached and confused. Cooro's anima was the strangest, a quirky little crow who actually overlapped with Cooro's own personality and traits to a frightening degree, as if they had truly become one soul. It was a bright little anima with a quick wit, an obsessive love of its own kind, and a pure love for flying and adventure.

But she couldn't sense another anima in Jump City. The animas from the children blended too well with the actual creatures that lived in, below, above, and around the city. Attuning herself to 'animas' only seemed to open her mind to the emotions and instincts of millions of living creatures surrounding them, and she couldn't seem to figure out how to separate the two. And when she tried to search just for Husky, she still found herself unable to track him down. It was impossible after all, tracking down a person she had not personally met, even with all the information she'd collected from the children.

Raven sighed again, this time lowering herself to the ground, then rising to her feet. Senri seemed to snap back into consciousness, or at least his eyes again held a spark of life and focused on her form, a question within them. Nana took Raven's cue and stood up, stretching and also looking up to the teenage girl with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Thank you for your help," said Raven, patting Nana on the shoulder. "I was unable to find your friend this time, but I'll keep looking."

Senri frowned and slowly rose to his feet. Nana looked incredibly disappointed, almost to the point of tears, but she took a deep breath, then raised her head up stubbornly, ready to forge onwards.

Cooro slept on.

"Cooro? It is time for lunch," said Raven, to no avail.

The empath walked the two steps forward and set a hand on Cooro's shoulder to shake him awake.

And froze.

Before her eyes, Senri and Nana were glowing. An image of an enormous, powerful, black-colored bear with a white star on its forehead, stretching up on its hind legs and roaring powerfully, flowed up around and above the teenage boy. Around the girl, an oversized brown-colored bat, shrieking and flapping its wings as if flying forward at full speed. The same impressions that had taken her over an hour to collect suddenly flooded into her, Senri's anima's insanity and rage sending chills up her spine, Nana's anima high on the defensive and apparently desperately trying to get somewhere, either away from or headed towards.

In shock, she turned her eyes to Cooro, still sleeping, to see his figure overlapping with an enormous crow. Not quite overlapping, though, but it was as if he had his anima activated, with large black wings spread behind him, ruffling in some imaginary wind. Black feathers down his arms, and even spreading further over the rest of him. Again, that sense of a strange bond, of a desire to find his own kind and protect them, and almost singing of the pleasure of flight and seeking out the newest adventure.

And an impression. An impression of something of a beautiful shade of silver-blue. Being sure to keep her hand on Cooro's shoulder, Raven turned her head towards the east, somehow seeing straight through the walls and sensing another anima far off in that direction. A light blue fish with a silver aura. One that seemed terrifyingly cold, but yet clung feverishly to its family, its school. One shining with pride of its own intelligence, confidence in its own abilities, knowledge of its own beauty. One rock-solid in its beliefs, determinations, and goals.

The ironic part of Raven's mind laughed at how emotional something like a fish anima could be. A different part of her smiled at the understanding that she was no longer reading an anima, but a complex, human child.

Confident that she'd found him, she focused her mind on that silver-blue fish anima, trying to get as much information out of it as possible. A flash of bright red – it was injured, in pain, but it wasn't life threatening. A swirly mug of green and brown – it was confused, worried, maybe even scared. A fog of dark blue – sadness, loneliness. Apparently Husky missed his friends as much as they missed him.

Raven nodded to herself, then shook Cooro awake. "Lunch," she said simply, as dark eyes blinked sleepily and looked up at her. "I may have a lead on your friend, but it will have to wait until I consult with the rest of the Titans."

The three +anima kids exchanged excited glances. Cooro quickly climbed to his feet.

_I have a direction,_ thought Raven proudly. _And I know that the child is relatively safe, at least for now. We won't get anywhere if the children are starving, and it will still take substantial work before we can narrow my vague direction into a specific location, but at least we finally have a lead. Plus…_ she looked over at Cooro, bouncing along happily. _Cooro seems to have some sort of ability to trace anima. Probably because his anima seems so much more… pure… than the others. With that ability, this could go much faster._

* * *

_Author's Note: Thanks to KuwaNeko for reminding me of Cooro's ability to sense anima and giving me the idea that I could have Raven combine her powers with his ability. If only because that would make the story way too short, I'm not allowing that combo ability to narrow Husky's location down exactly, so don't get your hopes up there! Sorry if this chapter came across as a little clumsy, but I FINALLY had inspiration after about three weeks, so I had to get this down as quickly as possible! As always, I'm totally open to ideas/comments/opinions/and miscellaneous feedback! Thanks for reading and please review! _


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note/Disclaimer (applies to previous, current, and future chapters): Again, I make no claims as to any knowledge of medical and/or biological science. Feel free to correct me if you are familiar with these subjects, or you can suspend your disbelief and treat it as another aspect of what's possible in the DC Comics universe._

* * *

Meredith sucked in a breath to keep herself from shouting out in pain. She was a biologist, a scientist, and this certainly wasn't the first time she'd been bitten – though granted, before it had always been an _animal_ of some sort.

Husky glared at her, angry that she didn't show much reaction at his teeth in her arm, and finally let go. He wiped his mouth on the blanket, pointedly ignoring the irritated and hurt look on Dr. Johnson's face and the worried, flustered look on Mr. Canterfield's.

Colin jumped into action as soon as Husky let go of Meredith, pulling out the first aid equipment Yeager had been using to clean Husky's leg wound. He quickly started cleaning his friend's wound.

"Actions like this do not particularly incline me towards belief that you're human, Myrrha," said Meredith, her voice tense from pain and trying to hold back her anger at what she felt was a completely unprovoked attack.

"I want to go home," repeated Husky, narrowing his eyes, not regretful in the least. "And I will."

"You can't," grumbled Colin irritably as he spread antibacterial cream over Meredith's bite wound and bound it with a bandage. "I already explained that."

"As if you'd even try to help me!" scoffed Husky, making as if to climb right out of the bed and hissing as he moved his wounded leg. He frowned and gave up the idea of immediate escape.

"Let's not have this argument all over again," said Meredith, flexing her bandaged arm and standing up. "It's probably time for lunch. Let's go, Colin. Myrrha, Yeager will bring your meal. We'll run the tests afterwards."

"And if I refuse to cooperate with your tests?" asked Husky haughtily, in such a way that Colin could easily believe that the boy had once been a prince.

"We'll figure that out then. I'd much rather you cooperate, as we can't come to any decisions without knowing what you are."

"Human. Done – no need for testing. Send me home."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "See you after lunch, Myrrha," she said, as she left the room.

Colin frowned at Husky for a minute, trying to figure something out in his own mind.

"What?" demanded Husky, scowling at him.

"Nothing," said Colin, shrugging. "See you later," he said, as he also left. The door shut behind him, and Husky didn't need to test the door again to know that it was locked. And he didn't particularly want to tear open his wound again just to verify something like that.

"If those are prime examples of 'humans', I almost wish I'm not," he grumbled to himself sulkily, laying back down and pulling the blanket over his head. "Just you wait…" he growled to himself. "I'll play good for their stupid 'tests', but that's just so they don't stop feeding me and to get their guard down… any maybe 'cause I don't want to be dumped in a tank again… but the first chance I get, I'm outta here. Just you wait…"

* * *

After lunch, Yeager lifted Husky up in his arms and carried him out of the room. Despite his deep humiliation at being carried like some princess in skirts, or like a baby or something, the fish +anima took the chance to examine the building he was trapped in. He had known it was some kind of manor or mansion from his first view of the room that tank had been in, and he knew from Yeager's presence and the butler's referring to Colin as "Master Canterfield" that the man who'd captured him was some kind of rich heir, though not any kind of nobility (from the lack of a title), but those facts wouldn't help at all in planning an escape.

Yeager glanced down at the beautiful silver-haired child, who was examining the halls they were walking through all too carefully. The elderly servant knew exactly what the child was doing. The concentration on his face was all too clear, as the child's blue eyes scanned and analyzed absolutely everything from the height of the ceiling and location of windows, to the type of carpet and number of doors they passed. The only thing that jolted the child from his observations was the stairs, simply because the jolt from each step clearly sent a wave of pain through the poor merchild. To the boy's credit, he didn't cry out once, just bit his lip and shut his eyes until Yeager reached the bottom of the stairs.

Apparently they'd been on the second floor, which seemed to be just lines of rooms. They'd come down to the first floor, into some sort of huge great room, but the foyer must be off in a different direction as he could not see a front door or anything to mark a main entrance. They passed the kitchen, which Husky filed away in his mind as an extremely important area to remember (he might have to stock up on provisions before he escaped, and even if he didn't, kitchens in manors are notorious for servants' entrances). They passed several other large rooms, most for entertainment purposes, ranging from different sizes of dining rooms (discerned from the large table surrounded by chairs) to rooms for dancing (open space), relaxing (lots of chairs and decorations), other entertainment (books and strange technology on the walls), and business (desks and files).

They finally came to another staircase, which Husky almost whimpered at, but caught himself and concentrated on not acting like he needed any special care. This was nothing. It would be over in no time.

For being over in no time, it sure seemed to take a LONG time to get down. Each step jarred his leg worse than the last one, though Husky had a feeling Yeager was trying to be considerate and step lightly. By the time they reached the bottom, Husky was a little short on air from subconsciously holding his breath and hadn't even noticed that his hands had been clenching Yeager's coat in an effort to lessen the jolt of each step.

There was only a single door in front of them, but when Yeager opened it, it revealed a long hallway. A rather overly clean looking hallway, like one you'd see in a hospital. Husky narrowed his eyes suspiciously and glared at Yeager, the only person there at the moment to blame. The butler ignored him and opened the first door on their right, revealing an enormous room filled with huge, rather alarming, machines.

Meredith and Colin were waiting inside the room, deep in a technical discussion about different types of scans. They both looked up and smiled at seeing Husky in Yeager's arms.

_Glad that their guinea pig has arrived_, thought Husky in annoyance, crossing his arms over his chest in a huff. Not knowing that Colin and Meredith would see that small gesture as a psychological effort to protect oneself from perceived threats, such as large, looming, metallic devices and adults in lab-coats (which Colin and Meredith had both put on).

"Did you enjoy your lunch, Myrrha?" asked Colin casually, walking over to a cushioned table and motioning Yeager to place the child on it.

Husky ignored the question, instead glaring at the man who'd captured him and asking his own question. "What are you going to do now?"

"We're going to run some tests on you in your merman form, so we'll need you to transform. Do you have any problem with that?"

Husky didn't answer. Yes, he did actually. In his fish-form, he couldn't move very well at all outside of water. He tail wasn't that flexible, and he had to hold himself up on his arms in order to shift his body. Plus his tail was actually very heavy, or at least seemed that way compared to his normal legs.

Yeager set him down. Husky didn't transform, instead glancing at Meredith out of the corner of his eye as she prepped different devices and tools. "What if I don't?" he asked. He didn't sound rebellious, though he probably wanted to. He sounded wary, almost scared. His eyes widened as Meredith pulled out another large syringe for drawing blood.

"We've decided we'll just wait around until you cooperate," answered Colin. "We'd rather not force anything. But, as a reminder, we won't be giving up, so you might as well let us get this over with."

Husky chewed his bottom lip in indecision.

"It will help me know how to best take care of you," said Colin.

"I'm not a pet!" shouted Husky, any trace of fear instantly vanishing to make way for anger.

"Yes, yes. But you _are_ in my house. And I'll certainly be more inclined to treating you better if you cooperate."

Husky frowned, but as Colin watched the fight slowly eased out of him.

_They'll just keep me locked up if I don't cooperate. If I DO cooperate, they might start liking me. I'll get a bit more freedom… Just that small bit might make a big difference. And I can't go anywhere until my leg gets at least a little better, and they are taking care of it… I can always back out if they try to do anything that will hurt too much. I'll just shift back. They've already decided that when I'm not using my anima I'm a human, so there'd be no point doing anything to me then._

"Fine," said Husky quietly. "But I'll make you regret it if you try to hurt me."

Husky laid down and transformed, despite the discomfort of that position in his fish form. Fish were not meant to lie flat on a bed, and it was extremely uncomfortable. It was worse than being tied down. But Husky put up with it, hoping the scientists would get whatever they wanted done and over with and leave him in peace after this.

Meredith internally sighed at the incredible beauty of the fish-child. The creature that could only be called a mermaid, straight out of a storybook. At her side, Colin was openly staring at what he clearly saw as his personal treasure. She caught his attention and gestured for him to get to work.

She ran her hands up and down Husky's body, much like she did the first time, examining his scales and tail and fins in depth by her touch and sight. Colin used some strange devices on Husky, such as something that wrapped around his arm, and another something that was stuck in his ear, and that other cold thing that he held on Husky's chest. After he'd used each device, he'd say something strange to Meredith, usually a number of some sort, and write it down on a chart of some sort in a fat notebook.

Meredith took three blood samples, to Husky's annoyance. One from his arm, one from his chest, and the last from his tail, carefully not touching anywhere near the angry, scale-less wound on his right side that'd transferred over when he'd transformed. Colin pulled out a small, rectangular thing and started pointing it at different parts and views of Husky and doing something with the device that made a small clicking sound. Meredith pointed out different spots that she wanted 'photographed', whatever that meant.

To Husky's shock, Meredith pulled out a small knife of some sort, with ridges all down one of the flat sides of the blade. He almost transformed back and jumped away as she lowered it to him, but all she did was gently rub it against the edge of his scales in different places, shaving off a thin powder from the edge of the small scales and collecting it in small plastic bags. She called them 'samples' and said something about examining them under a 'microscope' later.

"You okay?" asked Meredith, looking up at Husky's strained face. Husky squirmed a little, unable to hide his discomfort. The marine biologist frowned and reached over to feel his shoulders and back. "This position pulls the muscles along his spine," she said, looking up at Colin. "Let's hurry this along. We may need to give him a break."

She took one of Husky's hands, to his surprise, and squeezed it comfortingly. "You're doing wonderful, Myrrha. Thank you so much. Would you like to turn on your left side for a while? That should take the pressure off your spine. We'll need you to lie flat again later for some other tests, and those will take a while."

Husky nodded, and Meredith helped the child roll onto his left side. He curled up slightly, looking tired. Meredith thoughtfully observed that he clearly did not have any sort of knees, and that he curled his tail forwards in a large, graceful curve, similar to the position in many paintings of dolphins. Lying on his side also allowed her to examine his very strange, and incredibly beautiful and functional, dorsal fin, even more unique than his pectoral fins, though either was beyond anything stories told of mermaids. These types of fins would allow him to swim as well as any fish, even with his human arms, shoulders, and head.

She massaged the muscles in his shoulders and back, making sure there was no uncomfortable pressure or strain on anything. They would be running him through the MRI machine and the CT scanner later, and if he was in pain and scared now, she didn't want to imagine what his reaction to being trapped in those devices later would be. It was common for people to get claustrophobic in those machines, even without any past history of such. Maybe they should give him a light sleeping drug?

Yes, she decided, that probably would be for the best. The child was tired anyway, and already looked to be drifting off. He was already tired from the pain medication, his body's natural reaction to his wound, and undoubtedly an overdose of childhood anxiety, plus the strain from lying in an unnatural position. She gestured to Colin, softly asking for a tranquilizer by its chemical name (in case the merchild knew what a tranquilizer was). Husky was facing away from them, and didn't even notice as Colin prepared a small syringe with the drug and passed it over to Meredith. He flinched when she stuck the needle in him though.

"It's okay, it's okay," softly spoke Meredith in the calming tone she often used with excitable animals, removing the needle and rubbing the spot gently. The boy relaxed and went to sleep.

* * *

Cyborg took a bite of pepperoni pizza as he poured over the files in front of him, carefully not splattering anything on the printouts. He had narrowed the list of suspects down to fifty-three. This was actually an incredible improvement, as the number had started around six hundred. "Tall, blonde, male, rich," were not the most descriptive adjectives, but the three +anima children hadn't been able to agree on anything more than that.

Nana had described the man as "young and healthy looking"; Cooro had described him as "old and creepy"; and Senri either didn't understand the question or simply had no idea how to word his thoughts. Cyborg guessed the kidnapper to be between 18 and 45 with rather general features, and not fat. That still didn't help much.

And the pictures Nana and Cooro drew from her were… well, useless was the kindest word. (Senri had been cooking at the time. It'd been easy to get Nana and Cooro to break from their respective breakfast preparations, but the large teenager had refused to move from in front of the stove.)

With a long-suffering smile, he pulled out the two pictures, not sure what to do with them. Nana's stick figure with an arrow pointing to it saying "this guy," and labeling different parts as "blond hair," "nice clothes," "tall." And Cooro's ridiculous picture of some creepy fanged monster carrying off a mermaid, which he knew was supposed to be their friend Husky.

Cyborg remembered trying to question Nana and Senri while Cooro had been showing Starfire and Robin the 'crime scene'.

"_So you chased them out of the building and into a car, right?"_

"_Yes," replied Nana. Senri nodded._

"_Do you remember what type of car?"_

"_Type?"_

"_Model? Year? Color?"_

_The two +animas exchanged confused looks. "Um, black?" she replied, sounding confused. "There are different types of cars?"_

"_What about a license plate?"_

_Matching blank looks stared at him. _

"_A series of numbers and letters on a metal plate on the rear of the car, about here." Cyborg sketched the rear view of a car and drew in the license plate for them._

"_I'm sorry. I didn't notice…" said Nana, sounding ashamed. Senri patted her shoulder and glared at Cyborg for upsetting the girl. _

"_Here, how about I give you this magazine and you find a car that looks like the one you saw," said Cyborg, trying not to upset the girl further. He handed over a car magazine, one he knew was full of luxury and sports cars popular with the wealthy._

_He went back to his computer while he let the girl and boy look over the magazine. He heard mumblings of "Maybe this?" and "Um, something like that…" (interspersed with the occasional soft "No" from Senri). The little girl's mumblings started getting desperate and confused all too quickly. _

_Cyborg quickly turned around to comfort the girl, wishing Starfire was here to handle this. "What's wrong?" he asked. _

"_They all look the same!" despaired the girl. "I'm trying, but I just keep getting more and more confused and… I'm sorry! I'm really trying!" _

"_Look, it's okay," Cyborg tried to comfort her, though he didn't dare to approach her with the large gray-haired boy glaring at him with his good eye and protectively hovering over the child. "You're not from this world, after all. I didn't really expect you to find the exact car…"_

"_It's all my fault! I can't remember and I keep getting confused and we'll never find Husky and it's all my fault!" cried out the girl, and she started hiccupping and crying. Senri sat on the ground and pulled the girl into his arms, looking like a big brother caring for a precious little sister. _

"_No more," said Senri, though he'd dropped his glare and looked resigned and saddened. "We apologize. Thank you for helping."_

After that, Cyborg had showed them a room they could stay in and returned to his search. He again looked over the files. Fifty-three was probably still too many. If he showed the children this, he might have the problem with the car all over again, with them getting more confused and eventually actually forgetting what the actual man looked like. It happened all the time in court cases when trying to get witnesses to point out the criminal from a book of mug shots. They would sometimes end up so frazzled they wouldn't recognize the criminal when the person stood right in front of them.

He still needed to narrow it down some more. Less than thirty should be fine. Less than fifteen would be ideal. If only he had something more, just one more little piece of data to plug into the formula should drop the number by enough.

A vague idea of where he lived would be ideal.

Raven entered the room, herding in the three +animas. Cyborg had been sitting at the dining table with his files, and he quickly stacked the files and set them aside to make room for everyone to enjoy their takeout lunch from the Titans' favorite pizzeria. Beastboy and Starfire came in shortly after, and started regaling their guests with the wonders of pizza.

Raven deliberately sat next to Cyborg with a couple slices of supreme. When she was sure that Cooro, Nana, and Senri were preoccupied with the pizza and Starfire and Beastboy's stories, she leaned closer to Cyborg and whispered.

"The child is being held somewhere east of here, at a good distance. Not under five miles, or I would have sensed more."

Cyborg face broke into a huge grin and he took another bite of pepperoni, his cybertronic brain already narrowing down the list.

Of those fifty-three, only twelve lived over five miles east of Titans tower.

He chewed and swallowed before replying confidently. "We'll have this solved before this time tomorrow."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Special thanks to KuwaNeko for PMing me with research on DNA/genomic testing, even if in the end I decided not to use the information. (I decided to try steer clear of anything too technical.) Hope this chapter didn't disappoint, and I've already started on the next so maybe I'll get it out as soon as sometime next week! As always, I love love love reviews, and am perfectly open to comments/ideas/criticism/etc. Thanks for reading!_


	8. Chapter 8

Husky awoke in a large tub, floating comfortably underwater.

Strange. Normally he freaked out when he woke up underwater, usually suffering a flashback of the time he nearly drowned. But right now he felt perfectly calm. Relaxed, even.

The tub was smaller than the tank he'd first woken up in, really only just large enough for maybe three adults. It was only just long enough for him to stretch out comfortably, and completely round in shape. It had tiles lining the floor and walls and a series of steps up one side to the ground level. Best of all, there was nothing covering the tub at all.

His head was a little fuzzy, but he heard vague voices, so he rose to the surface and lifted his head out, breaking the surface of the pool.

He appeared to be in a different room, but it looked very similar to the one he remembered dozing off in, just without the large machines. It had tables and equipment everywhere, same as the last room, but it also had several types of pools and tanks – though all appeared to be empty except the one he was in. Meredith and Colin were standing together, examining some strange black and white pictures clipped over these glowing lit-up rectangular boards on one wall.

"A fish," said Meredith. "A new species of fish, completely unrelated to anything else. Almost mammalian, but it doesn't meet the requirement other than hair, and the DNA doesn't match at all. He isn't warm blooded; he doesn't even have blubber. Plus he certainly does use those gills, though this…" She gently ran her hand down one picture in particular, one that showed the different organs inside Husky's chest, with the lungs and breathing passageways highlighted in red and blue. Anyone familiar with human anatomy would immediately notice the strange direction of the breathing passageways, how they connected to large slits in his chest that formed gills, how there was some sort of bypass that must close when his head was above water. "This is incredible. How his body shifts completely from breathing air to breathing underwater… it should be impossible. It's completely different from lungfish or obligate air breathers, like electric eels. And it doesn't bare the slightest resemblance to anything amphibious."

"So his human form is absolutely human, but his fish form is absolutely fish?" wondered Colin to himself, examining other scans and printouts detailing the child's anatomy. "His bone structure is remarkable. His skull, shoulders, arms, and ribs remain apparently human, but his spine travels right down his tail without any sign of legs, and his fins! Mammals don't have fin spines, only fish, but sure enough, the vertebra of his central spine links to spines and rays shaping his dorsal and pectoral fins, and even his fluke. A horizontal fluke tail should not have spines or rays, and it should only be on mammalian marine life in the first place, but here it is..."

"But the muscular structure is similar to a porpoise's," said Meredith, examining another printout. "Especially in his tail. And even though the end of his tail is shaped like a fluke, it in truth, even visibly, is far more similar to a fish's tail than a mammal's, clearly not having any muscles running through the end. It's even somewhat translucent."

"Yes, I suppose we can't call it a fluke. We may have to come up with a name for a fishtail that faces horizontally instead of vertically."

"I don't know, Colin," answered Meredith, deep in thought. "Studying his muscle structure, I would think he swims more like a porpoise or whale than a fish, with an up-down rather than a side-to-side motion, which accounts for the fluke, even if not for the rays…"

"But when I was observing him the first day…"

_How boring_, though Husky, not really caring about whatever it was they were talking about. In his fogged mind, it honestly didn't even occur to him that they were discussing his current body. He leaned forward over the edge of the small pool, leaning on his elbows as he stared at the two scientists for a few more minutes. How could they talk so much about stuff that didn't make sense?

After a bit, he yawned and stretched, letting his tail slap the water. The sound caught the attention of the marine biologists, who immediately set down their paperwork and came over to check on the subject.

"How are you doing, Husky?" asked Meredith, kneeling down next to the tub. Colin knelt right in front of the child and checked his neck pulse.

"Mmm…" mumbled Husky incoherently, eyes slightly unfocused. "Tired…"

Meredith frowned and met eyes with Colin.

"His pulse is a little slow," said Colin thoughtfully. "Probably a side-effect of the tranquilizer. It won't be completely out of his system for another couple hours."

He thoughtfully pulled the unresisting merchild a little closer and pulled a penlight from a lab coat pocket, using it to check the boy's eyes.

"We'll keep an eye on that," said Meredith. She looked back down at the boy, who had uncharacteristically rubbed against Colin's hands and was now resting his head against the man's leg, leaning against him. Colin was almost laughing, but he made a gesture and Meredith handed him a forehead thermometer, which he swiped over Husky's brow.

"A little lower than earlier. He's probably subconsciously trying to compensate."

"I'll raise the temperature in the tub a couple degrees. I wonder what his ideal would be? Have we tried him in salt water yet?"

"I found him in a lake, so I've only placed him in fresh water. But he mentioned swimming in the sea when he was last drugged, so it shouldn't harm him."

"An osmoregulator, then. Probably somewhere between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit."

Colin reached down to ruffle the child's smooth silver hair, but the child, even barely awake, frowned and pulled away from the contact, going back underwater.

Meredith had to smile. It was like watching a wild dolphin. It came to get a treat or fill its curiosity, then when it had enough it left without glancing back. Of course, this beautiful child was so much _more_ than just an animal. After all, he could transform from a normal human to what her testing showed was an entirely new species of fish. Not half-fish, not half-human, and yet something capable of switching back and forth between either. Incredible.

"Have you drawn up the adoption papers yet?"

"Took care of that when it became clear his tests were not coming back as human. My lawyers will be here inside of an hour. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to register an orphan from another universe! Were you able to take care of the permit applications?"

"Better than that! I explained the situation to Dr. Jorgenson – you remember our graduate professor? He was able to expedite the process. I have an appointment with him and the bureau at nine tomorrow morning, and the professor was sure we'd have our permits and licenses by ten."

* * *

It was around seven pm when Robin finally put in an appearance, charging into the main room that the Titan's spent most of their time in. He'd stayed behind after giving permission to the Starfire and Raven to go on patrol with Cooro around the eastern part of the city where Raven had sensed Husky, armed with a map of the locations of the twelve estates of rich, young, blond collectors. Cyborg and Beastboy stayed behind with Senri and Nana to see if they recognized any of the photographs of the suspects and to try get some more concrete information, to round out the charges of kidnapping.

By the time Robin appeared, looking awfully tense about something, everyone had gathered back in the main room on the couch and was discussing the case. Between them all, they'd narrowed it down to six suspects. The pictures weren't that good, and many were years old, so they couldn't be exactly sure.

Raven and Cyborg quickly gave Robin a report on their discoveries, and Robin nodded in acceptance at their conclusion that they should be able to wrap this up tomorrow morning.

"The sooner the better," said Robin wearily.

"Is something wrong, Robin?" asked Starfire worriedly, sensing his tension and weariness. "Does your tiredness have to do with why you were not able to join us?"

"I was doing research," explained Robin, taking a seat next to her, instantly gaining the attention of everyone there. There was something loaded in his words. "Research on the legalities of kidnapping children from another universe or world, the legalities of violating the human rights of metahumans, and the like. On top of keeping an eye on incoming permit applications, adoptions certificates, and research blogs to make sure nothing that might be related to your friend slips past us."

"What is the problem that has you so concerned?" asked Starfire sincerely, green eyes wide and anxious.

Robin lowered his head to rest it on a tightly clenched fist. "There is no law against adopting an orphan from another universe or world, nor are there any laws against bringing such a child to our world. And, depending on how 'human' +anima are, our human rights laws may not cover him. And we know from experience how difficult it is to try a normal human for confining or tranquilizing a metahuman."

Cyborg's eyes widened in alarm. "Are you saying we can't arrest the man?"

"Probably not. I can't find any legal basis for a conviction. Any top-ranking lawyer would get the trial thrown out of court. We could probably appeal to the Justice League, who could get it taken to the highest courts, but that would take at least three years."

Raven's eyes narrowed in anger. She glanced at the three alarmed faces on the +anima and decided to make her comment to Robin telepathic.

"_From what I saw, he was injured. If we can't prove that it was done deliberately and maliciously, he could claim that he is holding the child for his own safety. If we can prove it, though, we should be okay."_

Robin nodded, letting Raven know he received her alarming message. _"Was Husky's mind stable? Would he be able to defend himself before a judge?"_

"_I am not sure. I was only able to feel his emotions, which are understandably quite chaotic given the situation. Would a judge even accept to review the case, though? What if our +anima friends are not actually human?"_

"We have to find out," said Robin out loud. "Senri, Cooro, Nana, I have a request. May we please run some testing on you to examine your DNA? It could impact our retrieving Husky."

"Of course," answered Nana, speaking for all of them. It was clear neither of the boys disagreed. Though it was also clear they didn't really know what Robin was talking about, and were only agreeing because of the "impact our retrieving Husky" part.

It was admirable, the bond these four +anima children had. Not just worrying to death over a friend, and not just being willing to follow that friend to another _world_ to rescue them. This was something more. A bond that the Titans were familiar with, as they shared one between themselves as well. It was a special type of family bond, one that even surpassed the strength of blood ties. A love born of similar circumstances and beliefs, of shared experiences and proven loyalty. The +anima were still very much kids, but somehow the Titans knew that the foursome would never drift apart. And the three in front of them would stand firm in their resolve to rescue their friend, even if it did take years.

"I can take care of that," said Cyborg, standing up and gesturing to the three +anima to follow him to the Medical Bay.

Starfire was staring at the ground, actually frowning.

"Star?" queried Robin, worried about her reaction.

"It is not right, Robin. Regardless of what one happens to be, no child should be taken from their world without their consent. No child should be stolen from their friends and family." She looked up, her expressive green eyes filled with solid determination. "We _will _get their friend back, Robin. It is the _right_ thing to do, regardless of what your human laws say. Regardless of _what_ our new friends are, they are our friends, and they deserve to be together."

For such a short speech, her words struck a chord in the remaining Titans. After all, Starfire herself wasn't human. Humanoid, yes, but she was Tameranian – an alien. Raven was also alien, being half-Azarathian and half… her father. And Beastboy's DNA was incredibly unstable, and actually far more _animal_ than human. If he hadn't been born human, with the birth certificate to prove it, he would probably have to fight for his own human rights. If his being 'human', or even 'metahuman' ever came to a court, he might lose. Even with his superhero status.

"I'm with Star," said Beastboy. "I don't care if we have to steal him back, Rob."

"We could lose our rights as superheroes if we resort to such measures," warned Raven, though her eyes were not cold as she turned to see Robin's reaction. "The governments of this world are already unhappy with giving superhero privileges to teenagers and children."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," said Robin. "If we move fast enough, there shouldn't be any problem getting Husky back. And once we get him back, we can move on to the next step – figuring out how to get them home. Perhaps Herald can help. But we'll worry about that after we retrieve the child."

* * *

_Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed and please review! As always, feel free to send me any ideas or comments! And thanks to all you great readers for following this story! You'll be happy to know I have plans for a sequel, but any more information would give away the probable ending of this story, so I'll keep it to myself for now._


	9. Chapter 9

Husky's head hurt. He was dizzy, and his stomach lurched as he opened his eyes and suddenly crashed into full consciousness. Much against his will. It would've been so much nicer to stay floating peacefully in the dark.

_Pah. Waking up sick, in pain, and surrounded by darkness. You think I'd be used to this by now._

He was still in the pool from earlier, and honestly didn't remember much after the initial testing. Something had stung him… some strange memories of waking in the pool and watching the two doctors talk about stupid stuff that made no sense. They'd come over to check on him, hadn't they? It was a blur, at least at first. Slowly more coherent memories of the last few hours filtered in to fill in some of the blanks.

Husky cursed the man who'd captured him. The man who'd dumped him in a tank to ogle him. Whose butler had shot him. Whose lady-friend had poked and prodded and threatened. And who had drugged him, AGAIN, and forced him to run through a series of weird tests. And here he was, AGAIN, waking up underwater…

Underwater… He was still in the pool, apparently the same one in that second lab. It felt about the same size, and the tile was smooth under his hands. If he was in the lab, then logically it was dark because the lights were off.

Husky broke the surface, ignoring the throbbing pain over where his thigh would be if he had legs instead of his fishtail. He felt quite queasy at the movement, and a chill from nausea or something whipped through him. He grabbed the edge and rested his head against the floor until the wave passed.

Drugs, drugs, drugs. What was with these people and drugs? All it did was make him sick! He'd rather be in pain.

Well… it did dull the pain. Or perhaps that was from being underwater in his fish-form? He'd been told that, to heal quicker, it was best to stay in the form you've been injured in – but his wound didn't seem nearly as bad in fish-form. Not that he could see it, but it didn't feel raw and burning like earlier. So, either the fish-form changed something, soaking in water had really helped, or those last drugs he was given were _really_ strong.

_Probably the last,_ he thought bitterly, the world spinning and his stomach so very close to rebelling. The tile was nice and cool, but he couldn't lie here forever.

He opened his eyes, which were immediately drawn to a line of light. A doorway. Leading to the hall. A way out. If he could walk.

_Oh, please. Please please please please please…_

He bit his lip and hefted himself out of the pool, still in fish-form. Only once he was clear of the water did he shift, gritting his teeth from the expected onslaught of pain from his gunshot wound. It came with a thump, but wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it'd be.

Enough to make him sweat. Not enough to make him quit. The pain was probably more from the movement than the form-changing, which was a bit of a relief. It meant he might be able to use his anima to escape… well, if there were any canals or anything around whatever mansion he was trapped in.

He carefully maneuvered his good leg beneath him and shakily tried to push up. His stomach lurched and he leaned his head against the cool floor until everything steadied. Whatever drug they'd last given him was really not agreeing with him or something…

_Okay, back to important stuff. Standing's not gonna work. What am I supposed to do, crawl?_

He carefully raised his head, his eyes latching onto that slit of light. Possibly a way out. If they thought he was completely out of it, maybe they hadn't bothered to lock it. They'd been so excited about those stupid test results, it was entirely possible they'd forgotten. Especially with Husky 'behaving'. The chance was dismally small, but there…

_I have to get out. I have to see them again… _His mind drifted off to his friends. The reason he had to escape.

Nana. The annoyingly cute and terrifyingly feminine _girl_, who would giggle as she cheerfully helped the lady of the house they were staying at prepare dinner. Who would unconsciously stick her tongue out in concentration as she worked on clothes for them to wear in winter. The last time she'd cried in happiness, clutching a small ring he'd given her on the anniversary of the day she'd joined what would become their little family. The furious look on her face after he unknowingly did something particularly insulting to someone. She was the only one to ever scold him, and it was always for a good reason.

His sister. Sometimes a precious little sister to be treasured, teased, and lectured. Sometimes an admirable big sister, full of wisdom and advice. The only girl in the world, the only person in the world, who completely understood him. Even when he baffled Cooro and Senri with his ill-timed tantrums, she would see to the heart of his insecurities…

Cooro. The jokester who'd flown off with him, literally, helping him escape from that cursed circus. The happy-go-lucky idiot who stole apples and other snacks without a second thought, or so it seemed until you spent some time with him. And saw how often those huge dark eyes, glittering in apologetic tears, could shift into victorious glee as he got exactly what he wanted. Cooro was certainly not the naïve innocent he came across as. It had scared Husky when he realized that Cooro had wormed his way so deep into Husky's heart that Husky could only vaguely remember what it was like to be a lonely prince, surrounded by nasty stepmothers and jealous, bullying stepbrothers.

His best friend. His brother. Someone who managed to balance out Husky's rudeness and anxiety, that could laugh no matter how rough the situation and always had a simple solution to even the most complex of problems. Who would always, always manage to be there when needed, no matter how much Husky insisted he_ wasn't_ needed...

Senri. The powerful wanderer, fiercely protecting plants for reasons unknown, who had suddenly turned gentle and contemplative as he leaned down to delicately pluck a flower and protectively slip it in his book. Husky would never forget when Senri's blindfold came off, when he was roaring in an insane rage at the sky as his anima tried to take over his mind – then how he froze when Husky threatened to destroy his book. His grey eyes shifting from the book to Husky's face and melting back into the Senri they knew. The time Senri and Husky stood back-to-back, facing down slavers in a battle they knew they couldn't win, as the arrow sticking out of Senri's shoulder attested to.

His big brother. Never before had Husky had someone protect him. Certainly never so fiercely. Sometimes Senri was almost a father-figure, someone he could hide behind without being ashamed. Who would give him a hug, and Husky could relax and return it, as comfortable and safe as he was in his mother's arms…

_I have to get back to them. I have to. So I have to get to that door. _

He glared over at the line of light.

_Fine, fine. I'll crawl. Whatever. Maybe I can pull myself up with the door or something._

Hoping desperately that no one would come to check on him anytime soon, knowing that he cut quite a pitiful figure, he slowly, very slowly made his way to the door. Enduring the throbbing from his leg, only just within his ability to manage, pointedly ignoring the pounding in his head and the nausea when he moved a bit too fast, he dragged himself along with his arms, pushing with his good leg. It was honestly more of a squirm than a crawl.

He finally, finally made it to the door. Using the door as a support, he leaned against it for a moment to catch his breath. Then he reached up and tried the handle, expecting all his efforts to have been for naught. Just as last time.

This time, the door swung open.

* * *

It took him precious seconds before the reality of what was going on really clicked in his head and he was flooded with adrenalin.

_The door is open._

_I can leave._

_All I have to do is stand up and walk out._

He reached for the door handle again, this time using it to pull himself upright. It was painful, but he was too excited to pay much attention. So what if his head throbbed and his stomach clenched? So what if his leg wasn't working quite right? He was getting out of here! Right NOW!

Somehow every movement, every breath seemed far too loud. The adrenalin had kick-started his brain, and suddenly he was all too aware of how easily this chance could slip by.

_If that Colin guy, or that Meredith lady show up. There's that Yeager guy too. Can't forget about him – the one who messed up my leg in the first place._

He couldn't get caught. He couldn't.

_Close the door._

Husky shifted to lean on the wall instead of the door handle. Slowly he pulled it closed, his hyper-alert ears flinching at the slight click as it closed fully.

_Move. Get out of here._

One step, two steps, three… Husky slowly made his clumsy way down the hall, leaning heavily on the wall for support, only focusing on one single thought:

_Going home._

He made it to the stairs and no one had shown up yet. This was dangerous, he knew. He shouldn't be trying something like stairs, but any way out of a basement floor had to involve stairs. So he had to do this.

_It doesn't hurt,_ he tried to convince himself as he placed his good foot on the first step. He leaned heavily on the banister to keep as much weight as he could off his bad leg, but it still buckled as he tried to shift his weight to climb the stair.

He crashed hard against the staircase.

_Hope no-one heard that, _he thought fuzzily once the blackness, blurs, and whirls receded from his vision. He stretched out an arm and belatedly realized he was in far more pain than he'd been in on the floor of the lab. But he couldn't think about that now. Couldn't think of how he was pretty sure he'd smacked his head against the wooden stairs, how his arm, strained from grabbing the banister to catch his fall, felt like someone'd tried to pull it from its socket. Nope, not thinking about it. And certainly not thinking about his leg, any more than acknowledging the fact that it was completely useless now. Limping up the stairs was out of the question.

_Crawl. I can crawl_.

So he did. He crawled up the stairs, keeping his mind blank of anything but getting to the top of the staircase.

And he made it.

He rehearsed in his mind the way out of here. The only way out he was sure of, at least fairly sure of, was through the kitchen. Realizing he had to get out of the hallway quickly, in case someone were to walk by, he crawled into a nearby drawing room to make sure he had a proper plan in mind.

Plus he had to catch his breath, even if at the risk of losing some of the adrenalin pumping through his system and probably keeping him from falling unconscious. He was gasping for breath after the stairs.

Even if the kitchen wasn't the way out, it was fairly close to the stairs to the second floor, and so likely not far from the entrance. And there were dozens of rooms to pass by on the way there. He could hide in one if worse came to worse. They still thought him in the lab. The mansion was huge, but they would know he was looking to escape once they figured out he was missing. He didn't have much time.

Husky sighed and dared look down at his leg. He quickly looked away. He couldn't do anything about that, other than curse the fact that he was leaking a trail of blood behind him that someone was sure to notice. He quickly pulled off the light cotton shirt he was wearing and tied it around the wound, trying to keep the blood from getting all over the shirt and creating a new blood trail.

He had to get out of here. Quickly. The blood led straight to him. There went his hope that they wouldn't notice him gone until they reached the lab.

Husky was suddenly hit by a wave of nausea and exhaustion. He leaned his head against the floor for a minute until the worst passed. When he lifted his head, ready to force himself to make his way to the next room, he blinked uncomprehendingly at the puddle of blood where his head had been.

_Oh, crap_.

He rose a hand to his head, and it came away bloody. He wiped his hand on the loose shorts he was in, where it hopefully wouldn't rub off on the flooring wherever he had to crawl.

_Can't think about it or I'll get sick. Won't think about; can't get sick. Not thinking about. Moving on. Have to get out of this room. Blood trail leads right to it…_

He carefully shifted around the blood and started for the door, checking behind him to make sure there wasn't more blood following him. Well, any more than a few spots here and there. He must have other scratches. But they were almost unnoticeable.

Husky made it into the hall and, keeping as close to the wall as he could, keeping all five senses alert for the slightest trace of exposure, crawled onward. After what could've been only about five minutes, though it felt like an hour, he'd barely made it to the third door down from the blood trail.

_I'm not going to make it_, he realized with dread. His eyes whipped around for something, anything, to give him a few more minutes of freedom. If he could just hide out somewhere until he felt a little better…

_That could take days. I don't have days. Have to keep moving._

He made it a few more rooms down, finally almost collapsing in front of some guest room. He crawled into the room and under the bed, cutting back the sobs of helplessness and exhaustion.

He wasn't done yet. He just needed a few minutes. Or so he told himself before again falling unconscious.

* * *

Cyborg was relieved, though a bit confused.

Their new +anima friends were human.

Well, at least the tests read that Cooro, Nana, and Senri were human. Obviously not from their world, from certain indicators he only knew to look for thanks to their supercomputer, which was linked with the Justice League's superhero database. Entirely human. Which was actually quite strange.

See, Beastboy only had a percentage of human DNA, and it was severely warped. Cyborg's own blood had been knit with microscopic cybernetic cells, which would mess with any DNA test by an average scientist. Starfire and Raven's tests were very clearly NOT human, though they certainly fell in the 'humanoid' category. Same as Superman and Wonderwoman. And then there were superheroes (and supervillains) like Static Shock and The Flash, turned metahuman by some sort of exposure to a chemical or radiation. And then there were Atlanteans – they were sometimes almost indistinguishable from normal humans visually, but the DNA, again, always gave them away.

So what were their new friends? They only people he could think of that were still human genetically and had super-abilities (or what others may think of as super-abilities) were those with extreme training from a very young age, such as Robin, or those with magical power, like Jinx.

But +anima didn't seem to be anything like that. They didn't fall into any of the categories. Even if an animal imparted a part of itself to a child, as Nana had explained, it absolutely should not promote such extreme physical changes in the recipient. Mathematically, Nana and Cooro's bone structure would have to be adjusted to enable them to fly – and a change like that just cannot happen unless something affected someone on an anatomical level. Same with the friend Husky's being able to breathe underwater.

So they should be metahuman. Logically, they should have either both human and animal DNA, like Beastboy, or they should have a mix of the two, like Wildebeast, or…

They could have both, but only one shows as a time. Like a light switch, the DNA could be on or off. The DNA could be hidden when not in use.

Hidden in the tattoo-like marking every +anima had.

Cyborg looked up at Nana from where he was going over her stats. She had finally given in and let him examine the strangely beautiful, in a gothic sort of way, bat-wings marking on her back. For something that appeared out of apparently nothing when a child became a +anima, it was so incredibly detailed. There had to be a purpose to it.

"What happens if your mark is removed?" he asked.

Her eyes grew wide in shock and she suddenly shivered.

"Scientists do that back home…" she whispered, sounded scared. "It removes your anima. They even graft it onto other people that want to be +anima, but it never lasts long."

He was right! But… "Never lasts long?"

She blinked back tears. "If you weren't the one that was given the anima, it doesn't stay. I saw… I saw one of those grafted +animas fall right out of the sky when it disappeared."

"Of course. They didn't earn it," said Raven's voice from the doorway. She stepped in casually.

"Earn it?" asked Nana, confused.

"You haven't figured it out?" asked Raven gently, without the slightest trace of sarcasm. "You +anima are special. From what you've said, even in your world hundreds, thousands of children die every year. Starve. Are beaten. Are murdered. So why were you children saved? It can't be as simple as 'I didn't want to die', or any child in that situation would become a +anima. It's not as foolish as 'I saw an animal and desperately wanted to do what they could' – or how could that anima be exactly what you needed?"

Nana frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know."

Raven actually smiled slightly. "I've seen it. In you three. And I've felt it in your missing friend. You feel like a fellow Titan. Like a superhero."

"A what?"

Cyborg laughed, getting at least some of what Raven was getting at.

"She's complimenting you," he explained to Nana, patting the small girl's head. "It's a rare combination of personality traits that makes a superhero. That's why you guys feel so at home with us, isn't it? You probably even feel something special when you meet fellow +anima – what do you all seem to have in common? More than just a desire to live?"

Nana looked confused.

"You deserve to live," answered Raven. "Animals can sense things many times people cannot, and apparently the animals in your world exceptionally so. You were chosen because the animals thought you were special, that you deserved to live. That you could, and would, do great things if you were able to live. Maybe not on a grand scale, but great things nonetheless."

Nana shook her head. No, that couldn't be right. They weren't special. They were just lucky.

"What would you do if you saw a small child being beaten by an adult?" asked Cyborg.

"Jump in and help the child," answered Nana without thinking.

"Would Cooro, Senri, and Husky say the same thing?" asked Raven.

"Absolutely."

"With any hesitation? Any at all?" added Raven.

"No. They'd jump right in, no matter the consequences." The girl looked embarrassed at making such a statement, and from the look in her eyes she was probably remember the consequences of a few times they did just that.

"That's what we're talking about," said Cyborg, setting his large hand over Nana's and squeezing as she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Raven, Starfire, Beastboy, Robin, and myself would all do the exact same thing."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay and lack of action in this part, and yes I've started on the next chapter. I'll try to have it out within a couple weeks, but I'm afraid I can't make any promises. _

_ I've put a poll up! Everyone, please vote on how far along you feel this story is – the results of this poll WILL impact exactly how I shape the rest of this story to make way for the sequel. I've got about three directions this story can go in, and each one will bring the story to a close in a slightly different way, so be sure to vote! If you don't have an account, please leave your votes in your anonymous review for this chapter. (In other words, please review!) And, yes, I am still (and always!) open to ideas/comments/criticism/etc. Having a couple ideas where to go does NOT mean I am closed off to other options! I am also totally open to ideas for the sequel, for which I must thank 0m3ga's Z3r0. Without her I never would have had the inspiration for the plot!_

_Um, and just a note about reviewing… this story is my top favorited story by over twice any of my other stories. In fact, it has well over the amount of favorites on all of my other stories combined. But I haven't heard from almost two-thirds of the people who've favorited this. It would be really nice to get even just a two-word review from you all… I love, love long reviews as much as any writer, but I understand sometimes you just don't have the time. If you still can't, thanks anyway for favoriting this and I do hope you find time in the future to drop me a line. _

_Thanks for reading!_


	10. Chapter 10

Meredith was in a panic. She'd been heading towards Colin's basement laboratory to check on Myrrha, her nose buried in research, when she'd slipped on the stairs.

Her paperwork went flying and she tumbled down the last few steps, landing in a bruised and uncomfortable heap. What on earth had she slipped on?

Her eyes irritably scanned the staircase. She froze at the sight of a puddle of blood, now smeared from her slipping in it.

"Oh, god…" she whispered in horror.

Forgetting the paperwork, which was useless anyway if Myrrha was dead, she bolted for the lab they'd left Myrrha asleep in. He should've been out for another hour! Had he woken and tried to escape? Was he okay? Of course he wasn't okay – what was she thinking? There was a puddle of blood at the bottom of the stairs! He'd tried to escape, he must've been upset about something, and why oh why didn't she remember to lock the door?

She banged the door to the lab open, flicking on the lights and scanning the dead silent room. No Myrrha. How on earth… He made it up the stairs! In who knows what condition!

She spun on her heel, not bothering to flick off the lights, and charged back the way she'd come.

Back at the stairs, it seemed obvious that he'd made his way up them. There were drips and streaks of blood leading all the way up, enough that it might have made her sick if she wasn't in such a panic. She needed to find him. He could be dying and … and…

And this was all her fault.

Oh, god, this was all her fault.

Why couldn't she see it? Why hadn't she seen this coming?

She swore angrily at herself, cursing herself with every swear word she knew, the most expletive references to an incredibly stupid and selfish woman she could come up with as she followed the trail of blood up the stairs and into the room across from the staircase.

Blood, blood, more blood… and no Myrrha.

Oh, god, what if he was dead? A child could be dead and it was all her fault! Her heart seemed frozen in her chest, a deadweight of guilt and panic.

The blood trail ended. God, no! Where did he go? She had to find him! She had to help him! He could be dying!

She forced herself to calm down enough to examine the room more carefully. There was no time to be panicking. She had to find Myrrha as soon as possible.

The child was gravely injured, in at least two places. One was undoubtedly his wounded leg. She desperately hoped the other wasn't his head, but from the distance between the two puddles and the looks of the streaks and trails, that's what it sure looked like. And then the trail ended…

No! No, it didn't!

She hadn't noticed in her panic, but there was still a slight trail. Myrrha was clearly too injured to completely hide or cover it up.

She dropped to all fours in order to see better, and quickly followed the tiny specks of blood leading back to the hall and down towards the main part of Colin's house.

The child was clearly trying to escape.

Escape. She'd never meant to imprison a child, and certainly never meant him to feel trapped. This was supposed to be a wonderful opportunity! Living with Colin, he could have anything he wanted! A life of endless opportunities and boundless luxury! And surely it should be an honor, a privilege, to make scientific history!

Right?

Wrong.

She'd been wrong. So very, very wrong.

This was child abuse. She could be, she _deserved_ to be locked up in prison for this. What kind of woman puts a child in a situation where he tries to drag his injured, maybe _dying_, body up a staircase and out of a mansion? When the child's already injured and shouldn't be able to even walk…

A sudden shock went through her as she realized she'd never gotten around to having Colin explain how the child had been injured in the first place. She'd been too excited about the research possibilities. Come to think of it, he _had_ said something about an escape attempt…

Gunshot wound in the leg…

She was a fool. An idiot. And words far, far worse.

The trail led into a guestroom and under the bed. She raced towards the bed and lifted the skirt to see underneath.

Myrrha lay there, looking like death and covered in bruises, scratches, and blood.

"MYRRHA!" she screamed, hoping desperately for a reaction.

None.

"MYRRHA!" she screamed again, and with strength she didn't know she had, she lifted the bed and shoved it out of the way so she could reach the child without banging or scraping it against him.

She knelt at the motionless child's side and immediately felt for a pulse.

One was thudding along at his neck, but it wasn't nearly as strong as it should be. And… oh god, he really was injured in the head. The right side of his head was gashed open and still bleeding, leaving trails down the side of his face and a puddle where his head rested on the floor.

Crap – he probably had a concussion! Can't move him. She wasn't trained for this. She needed to get a doctor! A medical doctor!

She bolted for the doorway, already screaming.

"COLIN! YEAGER!"

* * *

The ringing in his ears woke Husky up, closely followed by a splitting headache, a screaming stabbing pain in his thigh, and a merciless throbbing in his left arm. He whimpered and fidgeted to try get more comfortable, but that only set off a whirling nausea in his stomach and a dizzy spell so strong he could've been spinning in circles for all he knew.

The vomit came up. Someone supported his body over a bag as his stomach heaved out bile and various other foul-smelling liquids. Dry heaves continued long after his stomach was empty, and he was sobbing by the time they finally came to an end.

The large, supporting arms gently helped him lie back down and someone wiped his face for him. Husky couldn't really make out what was going on. For some reason, he could only see in black and white, and everything was a fuzzy blur that twisted around nauseatingly. He managed to pick out the shape of someone, maybe a man. Husky figured he was tying up and throwing out the bag of vomit.

He closed his eyes against the blur, but the sickness in his stomach, the throbbing in his head, and the dizziness remained. As far as Husky was concerned, he'd discovered a new definition to 'sick'. At least the sickness blocked out most of the pain. He tried to turn on his side to curl into a ball, but his injured leg could not be budged. He whimpered at the restriction and again opened his eyes to try see what was going on.

"Myr…. a…"

A voice was calling him, barely audible over the ringing in his head. His dazed eyes tried to focus on the figure leaning over him. Slowly his vision cleared up, revealing a large, middle-aged man shining something in his eyes. He blinked at the man, still feeling more sick than he thought possible, but it wasn't as bad as a few minutes ago.

Husky didn't like that light. He raised his left arm to swipe it aside and hissed as new pain shot up his arm at the movement. On the bright side, the pain cleared up his head somewhat. On the downside, the return of the pain… returned _all _of the pain. The fish +anima managed to hold back the cries, but he couldn't help the sharp intake of air through his tightly clenched teeth.

"Myrrha," repeated the voice, cutting its way through the ringing. "Can you hear me? Are you awake?"

Husky grunted and turned his eyes, hot with pain and fueled by annoyance, towards the man. A doctor. He looked familiar…

_Damn you! Stop moving!_

Choppy memories flooded his mind. Memories of being pinned down, of fading in and out of consciousness, unsure of what was dream and what was reality… This large man, yanking his weapon from him, forcing him to finally surrender to that cold pain and achingly empty darkness… Cursing as he drove a huge needle in and out of the flesh of Husky's thigh, stitching it back together, grumbling about the damn drugs not working fast enough…

_Good boy, good boy. All over now. Get some rest…_

Then that same man, much gentler now, brushing his hair out of his face and patting his head. Telling him he was a strong kid and not to let a silly thing like a gunshot wound get him down. Explaining, even though Husky had been too dazed to understand it all, exactly what had been injured when he'd been shot. How the doctor had had to clean it out and stop the bleeding and stitch it up so it could heal properly. How he would need to take drugs to prevent infections and lessen the pain, and how he wanted him to rest until he was all better…

"Doctor… Marshall?" asked Husky weakly, the name finally coming to his mind. The first doctor, the medical one that had taken care of him after he'd been shot.

"Good boy," said the doctor, nodding and patting Husky's right arm, the one that didn't hurt. The large, dark-haired man was sitting at his bedside, on the same side as his bad leg and good arm. As Husky frowned at him, trying to put the pieces of his scattered mind together, the man took a pen out of the breast pocket of his button-down shirt and jotted some notes on a pad of paper resting on a side table beside the bed.

"What… what happened?" asked Husky weakly, his voice alarmingly weak and trembling.

"You tell me, kid," replied the doctor.

"Why… why can't you…?"

"I need to test your memory," said the doctor casually, pushing his wire glasses up his nose. "I'll explain everything in a bit, don't worry. First just tell me what you remember about your predicament."

Husky frowned. "I… got shot…"

"Yes."

"Was trying to escape that… tank. Yeager, butler guy… Don't like Colin…"

"Not surprised you feel that way. And that explains your leg. What else?"

"… You took… you took care of me. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I help brats like you all the time, but it's nice to hear them acknowledge it."

Husky chuckled weakly. He raised the hand that didn't hurt and rubbed his head.

"Headache? Don't push it."

"I… woke up. You were gone. Felt funny. Drugs? Yeager… was there. He's not so bad I guess… Wish he hadn't shot me… What's wrong with me?"

"Quite a few things, and ones I'm certainly going to speak with Colin and Meredith about."

"Meredith?" There was no recognition in the child's voice.

Dr. Marshall frowned and patted the kid's good hand in a comforting gesture.

"Anything else?"

The child closed his eyes and rubbed at his head. Suddenly tears sprung to his eyes and he started shaking. "What… what happened…?" he pleaded.

Dr. Marshall sighed and set down his pen.

"It's okay, Myrrha. It's okay. Calm down." The boy looked up at him with those big, blue eyes. "You're going to be okay, don't worry. Tell me what hurts."

"I want to go home…"

"Don't worry about that, Myrrha. Tell me what hurts."

"I miss my friends. I want to go home."

"You're injured, Myrrha. You have a concussion. It's a brain injury caused by hitting your head. I need to know what hurts so that I can treat you. I'll explain anything you want me to, don't worry."

"Head hurts… Stomach…"

"Headache and nausea, both caused by the concussion. I believe you may also have been having a reaction to a drug in your system, but those reactions should fade now that you've thrown up. What else?"

"Arm."

"Pulled muscle. You fell and grabbed something, probably a staircase railing. It gave one good yank, but it'll be better in only a few days. I've wrapped it for now."

"Leg… gunshot wound?"

"You were shot in the leg, yes. I took care of it a couple days ago, but it was torn open again. I stitched it back up and immobilized it so it can heal properly this time."

"That's why… that's why I can't move it?" asked the silver-haired child, sounding ever so young, weak, and scared.

Dr. Marshall took a couple pillows from where they'd been set on the floor and lifted Myrrha up slightly, propping the pillows behind him so he could look around better. Then he set a hand near the harness to show the child what he meant by immobilize.

"This keeps your leg from moving around. It's a very basic harness, just a series of straps around your leg."

"H… how do I get it off?" asked the child.

"You don't. The straps attach down here," he set his hand on the bottom side of the bed towards the foot of it, "for that very purpose. I don't want you leaving your bed for any reason until that leg's better."

The child's big blue eyes grew to enormous proportions. "B… bathroom?" he asked, sounding scared.

"We have a bedpan you can…"

"NO!" cried out the child, flushing red. He looked down in shame and embarrassment, realizing he was yelling at the man who was trying to help him. "P-please, no. I don't want…"

Dr. Marshall sighed again and sat back heavily in the chair.

"Myrrha, let me make this clear to you. You are in this predicament because you tried to escape again. If you want to escape after you heal, I'm perfectly fine with that. Not my problem. But you tried to escape while under the affects of a tranquilizer that apparently didn't agree with your fish form as well as with your bad leg. You fell, pulled your arm, ripped up your leg, and hit your head. This gave you a concussion, numerous bruises and cuts, as well as doubled the damage to your leg. And, since apparently that still wasn't enough, continued to push yourself along until you passed out, no doubt increasing the damage, and your subsequent recovery time, even more."

Myrrha stared at him with those huge eyes, obviously with no recollection of the events Dr. Marshall was relating.

"One of the symptoms of concussion is memory loss, especially about the traumatic event itself. Don't strain yourself thinking about it. That will only have the opposite effect as your brain tries to recover. Your brain and your body MUST rest. Ideally you shouldn't be on any meds but some low-dosage ones for pain relief, but with your leg that would be cruel to force you to bear. So I will be giving you prescription drugs, but only under very close supervision. You will have to be under near-constant observation."

The child continued to stare at him.

"One of the most alarming aspects of concussion is the issue with how susceptible it makes you to getting a second one, possibly with much more devastating an impact to your mental faculties and memory. I'm sure you agree with me that this is not something you want to risk."

Husky finally looked away and shook his head. "But… I won't… I can't…"

Dr. Marshall examined him closely. "Make a promise to me, Myrrha."

"Yes?" Again, that pathetically weak voice so out of character with the child as he'd first seen him, brandishing a fire poker, eyes burning with fury and hatred, refusing to give in to the pain.

"Promise you will not try to escape until you are healed. Promise you will take your medication and cooperate with us. That you won't even try to stand up, let alone walk around, until I give the go ahead."

"I… I want to go home…"

"Yes, I know. But you can't go anywhere until you're better. And you won't get better if you keep moving around. If you promise me, I'll allow you to use the normal restroom. But someone will have to carry you. If you're very good, maybe we can even arrange for you to go outside. Okay?"

"Oh… okay." The child suddenly turned pale. He looked dazed.

"Myrrha?" asked Dr. Marshall gently, even as he quickly moved forward, grabbing another bag and supporting the suddenly boneless child upright.

"… feel sick…" whimpered the child, tears escaping as he felt the urge to vomit again coming back.

The doctor comforted and supported the small child as his body again betrayed him and he threw up for the second time that morning. Dr. Marshall tossed the extra pillows off the bed and laid the child back down flat. He grabbed a couple wipes and gently cleaned off the child's face. Then he tossed the dirty wipes in with the vomit, tied up the bag, and put it aside.

The child was crying from the pain in his stomach, his head, his leg, his arm, and no doubt also his confusion about what was going on. It was the clear the child was very near his breaking point.

If he wasn't after all this crap, he wasn't human, thought Dr. Marshall. He reached out and stroked the child's head, carefully keeping clear of where the child's head injury was.

No doubt more off a child's instinct than anything, Husky reached out his arms and grabbed Dr. Marshall's arm, hugging it tight to himself as he continued to cry. Dr. Marshall gave another sigh, a slight smile, fixed his glasses, then bent down and hugged the small boy. He held on as long as the child did, which was until the crying stopped when Husky finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

It was 5:00 am when the civilian phone line rang. Usually the Titans ignored this line, allowing it to be forwarded to the local police department. This time, however, Robin was hyper-alert as he went over his notes on today's mission. Today would be the day they found the monster who had kidnapped a child from another world, he was sure of it. Instinctively, thinking perhaps it was one of the sources he'd contacted for information on this case, he snatched up the phone and held it to his ear.

"Titans Tower. Robin speaking."

"…"

"Who is this?" demanded Robin impatiently. If this was a prank call, he'd see someone slapped with at least a fine for wasting his time.

"Robin? This is Colin Canterfield…" began a hesitant male voice on the other end.

Robin's eyes behind his mask grew large in surprise. He quickly ruffled through his stack of folders and whipped out the one with just that name on it. One of their top suspects for the captor.

"Thank you, Mr. Canterfield. May I ask why you're calling?"

"I need help…"

"I understand you have a problem, Mr. Canterfield. You wouldn't be calling this line if you didn't. But you're going to need to be more specific than that. Is the matter urgent?"

"Well, no."

"Then…?" Robin prompted.

"Look, I did something wrong and I can't take it back!" exploded the voice on the other end, choked with regret and anger at himself.

"What did you do, Mr. Canterfield?" asked Robin, his voice perfectly calm and rock steady, even as he allowed his leg to tap quickly against the floor to let out some of the excitement and nerves building up.

This was the man. They'd found him! Or, rather, the man was suddenly giving himself up. Why?

Robin's leg froze as he realized the only reason for the emotion in the man's voice. Something was wrong with Husky.

"I… I hired a man to open a dimensional portal. No, I'm not joking! He went by Professor Chang. I just wanted something from another world, something none of my colleagues had… I'm a collector, see?"

"Yes, I see, Mr. Canterfield. What did you take?"

"… A child. A mermaid. Well, he's a boy, but… He was just so beautiful. I'd never seen anything like it and…"

"And what's the problem, Mr. Canterfield?"

"Let me finish! I was followed. The mermaid boy… merchild?... had friends who followed us back into this world. Three of them. Now, in that world there are these kids who can…"

"Change into animal forms?" finished Robin.

"Huh?"

"My team has recently taken in three youths who can shapeshift into animal forms. They call themselves +anima. A girl with blond hair, a boy with black hair, and a teenager with grey hair. Sound familiar?"

"… Yeah, that's them."

"What about them, Mr. Canterfield?"

"I need them."

Robin's hand tightened on the phone and his eyes narrowed. His voice growled with suspicion. "Why?"

"Well, not me. Their friend, the merchild I took, he needs them."

"I repeat myself. Why?"

"… He's injured. Pretty badly."

The icy claw of terror worked its way into Robin's chest. Had they gone through all of this, had those three poor +anima kids gone through all this, only to lose their friend? Was the child dying?

"I shouldn't have taken him, but it's too late now, and I need to make it up to him somehow, and I can't have him keep injuring himself…"

"Injuring _himself_?" demanded Robin angrily.

"Look, it can't be undone!" shouted Colin on the other side of the line.

"He better not be dying!" growled Robin. "Or, god help me, I'll see you…"

"He's not! He'll be fine if he just stops trying to run around! He can't be moved, but he'll be okay in a couple weeks."

"Where is he?"

"My house. A doctor, a friend of my family's, is treating him and has given orders that the child not be moved for any reason. But I can't deal with this anymore. The child hates me, with good reason, and…"

"What's wrong with him?"

"Look, can't this wait? I just want to apologize to Myrrha and the only thing I can think of is to give him back his friends!"

"My team and the child's friends will be there in half an hour. Be ready."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay and hopefully I won't take nearly as long on the next chapter. I do promise more action with the Teen Titans and the rest of the +Anima gang coming up!_

_Special thanks to Kitty-chan and Nya-chan for all her help with ideas! Thank you!_

_The poll is CLOSED! Well, it looks like a tie, so I'll be shooting for extending the plot without throwing us into an entire new arc. Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll!_

_Hope you enjoyed and please review! As you can probably tell from my delay, I'm running into a bit of an issue trying to work out some kinks in the plot – so any and all ideas are welcome and much appreciated!_

_As always, thanks for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11

"Can I speak with him, Dr. Marshall?"

The doctor eyed the man up and down. The spoiled heir to the Canterfield billions, who Dr. Marshall had taken care of since the collector was a spoiled little brat of three. The blond haired man _looked_ fairly contrite, but Dr. Marshall wasn't entirely buying it. Just as he never bought it from Colin's father, mother, uncle, or sister.

"I would like to say no, Colin. I would very much like to."

"I… I know what I did was wrong."

"Do you? I gave _specific_ instructions. The child was not to be moved. He was to rest and heal. I certainly did not authorize testing. You completely disregarded my medical opinion."

"I didn't!" protested Colin, raising up his hands in a confused gesture that was half defensive and half an attempt at being conciliatory. "I just got… distracted." He lowered his hands, as if realizing he was at fault. His eyes lowered to stare at Dr. Marshall's shoes, too ashamed to look the older gentleman, a man he'd looked up to his entire life, in the face.

"Go ahead," sighed the doctor. "Apologize to the child. And _mean it_." Dr. Marshall stepped to the side of the hall, letting Colin past him to enter the room.

Colin entered, to see Husky's dazed, half-conscious eyes focus on him and immediately sharpen into a glare.

"I'm sorry."

Husky wasn't buying it.

"I didn't mean for you to get injured."

"You think…" began Husky. The fish +anima winced as pain stabbed through his skull. He could mostly ignore the throbbing in his leg and arm, long as he didn't move, and the nausea had indeed mostly worn off – but the pain in his head refused to go away. He shoved past it anyway, disregarding his own body's warning signs. "You seriously think I'll forgive you? I hate your guts. Go drop dead."

"I lied to you about your friends. They did follow us into this world. I've already located them. They'll be here in less than an hour."

Husky's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in suspicion.

"You still can't go anywhere. Not until your leg is better – Dr. Marshall really will kill me next time. And I really don't think you'll be able to find a way to go back to your world, so I'll take care of you until…"

"Hah!" scoffed Husky, wincing again and setting a hand against the side of his head, mindful of his injury.

"Look, I want you to be…"

"Happy?" interrupted Husky, practically growling. "Seriously? Because I'm obviously some cute little pet that you can just throw treats at to make perk up and smile?"

Colin's face faltered.

"Idiot," grumbled Husky, the fire already going out of him from lack of energy. He laid back to rest against the pillow, staring at the ceiling. "Want to know where you went wrong?"

Colin frowned. Wait… was the kid giving him advice?

"There are thousands, maybe millions of +anima kids in my world. Most are homeless, friendless, lonely, and scared. Pretty much any of them would eagerly have gone with you. But you just _had_ to snatch _me_. Idiot."

A strange sounding giggle actually broke from Husky's mouth at the thought of the tremendous odds _against_ all of this ever happening. So many abused children desperately looking for some sort of stability, and Colin stumbles across the perfectly satisfied Husky and his friends.

"Stupid. It's all so stupid…" Husky turned his eyes to glance again towards a surprised looking Colin.

"I don't hate you because I got hurt. It had nothing to do with losing my friends… well, not much. What I hate… is that you never gave me a choice. Just like all those others…"

Husky's eyes were slightly dazed as he started giving in to the exhaustion caused from trying to speak so forcefully in his condition.

"Why do all adults never just _ask_?" whispered Husky, just as his eyes drifted closed.

For the first time since this all began, a stab of genuine 'If I could take it all back…' guilt worked its way through Colin's heart.

* * *

"You found him?" cried out Nana and Cooro together in delight. To Robin's shock, he suddenly found himself on the ground with the two children hugging him tightly and stringing together seemingly endless streams of thank-you's. He allowed his arms to wrap around the two children and looked up to check on Senri. The large teenager stood there, arms folded across his chest, absolutely beaming in happiness.

Robin allowed them their excitement for a few more seconds before freeing himself from Nana and Cooro's hug. "Look, guys – there is one problem. Husky's hurt."

A dangerous growl echoed throughout the room. Robin glanced over at Senri, unsurprised to see his arm shifting into a bear's. Deciding the teenager wasn't immediately dangerous, at least not to him, he turned his attention back to the two younger children.

And was surprised to see just as furious a light shining in their eyes. Nana's face had spots of pink on her cheeks and her eyes were narrowed in rage. Cooro's smile had disappeared, replaced with a look of deep concentration and focus.

"What happened?" demanded Nana.

"I don't know the details. We'll find out when they get there. I'm telling you now so that you don't just rush in and snatch him up. You could hurt him even worse."

"We are going to him," said Cooro, absolutely no room for debate in his tone. His personality seemed to have completely shifted. It reminded Robin of Beastboy when he was informed that the Doom Patrol was in trouble. These happy go lucky types could sure get scary when they were angered.

"I know, and you will," said Robin. "I won't stop you. I'll stay back and get all the details from Canterfield and you guys can go to Husky – just be extra careful not to hurt him, alright? And don't try to move him until I find out what's wrong, okay?"

"We would _never_ hurt Husky," said Nana fiercely. Senri nodded his head in agreement.

* * *

Canterfield was waiting on the front porch as a car and a motorcycle drove up the long drive to the main entrance. Above the famous T-car flew the alien Starfire of the Teen Titans and a familiar boy with crow wings. The one he'd spoken to in that other world.

The motorcycle pulled up and the rider took off his helmet, revealing the masked face of Robin, leader of the Teen Titans. The car's doors opened, and Cyborg, Raven, Beastboy, and the remaining two from that other world jumped out. The blond girl flew up with her bat wings, and the grey-haired teenager, again with a bear claw for an arm, charged forward. The two joined the boy with crow wings and dashed past him into the house.

"Hey! Wait a - ! You can't…!"

"They won't hurt him," said Robin professionally, approaching the rich collector. "I explained that he was injured and they had to be careful. They agreed. Now, from you, I require a full, in-depth report on the incident and everything leading up to it."

"You'll have to talk to the doctor for that," said Colin, not liking the way this teenage superhero was obviously looking down on him. Or that nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he deserved to be treated like a criminal. "And I already explained how the boy came into my possession."

Starfire's eyes flashed and Beastboy growled at hearing Canterfield's unwise choice of words. Raven's expressions was unknown, hidden behind the raised hood of her cloak, but her glowing eyes were narrowed. Cyborg held back Beastboy and Robin held up a hand to calm the others.

"We can do this here or we can do this at the station," said Robin, voice stiff with anger. "Of course, either way you're spending tonight, and probably the rest of your life, behind bars."

The tall, blond man drew himself up, frowning. "You have no right. I've done the research. I have done absolutely nothing illegal."

"Maybe not _illegal_," said Raven darkly. "But _immoral_, certainly."

"He would've been fine if he stopped fighting!" Colin defended himself. "And I'm perfectly capable of looking after a child!"

"Are you now?" commented Raven sarcastically. Robin shot her a warning look and stepped forward.

"This is getting nowhere. Starfire and I will take this man to the station and book him. Raven, Cyborg, Beastboy – you guys find that doctor and get the story out of him, then take a look around the mansion and collect any evidence we need for our case. Arrest anyone that gets in your way."

"You can't do that!" shouted Canterfield angrily. "Where's your warrant?"

"We don't need one," said Robin, though he knew that wasn't exactly true. Frankly, he didn't care at this point. "Now are you going to cooperate, or do we need to show you why we're called _super_heroes?"

The rich young man looked ready to argue some more, but an older gentleman had exited the manor and come up behind him. The butler set a hand on his young master's shoulder.

"Master Canterfield, it would be in your best interests to cooperate. We can settle this issue once and for all."

Colin bristled, but nodded. "Fine. Yeager, call my lawyers."

"Already done, sir. I'll come with you to the station."

* * *

"I sense him!" whispered Cooro excitedly as he dashed through the house, Nana right on his tail, Senri barreling through the halls just behind them. They ran right past a lady sobbing on a couch in one of the rooms, paying no heed to her, and actually did crash into a doctor-looking person standing right in front of the door they wanted to get through.

"Wait – children, what?" grumbled Dr. Marshall incoherently as Cooro and Nana brushed past him and Senri pushed him out of the doorway to enter himself.

"Husky!" shouted Cooro, jolting the silver-haired boy that'd been sleeping on the bed awake. Husky whimpered as a pain shot through his skull, but he quickly ignored that pain as his open eyes focused on his best friend, standing at his bedside. Cooro was actually twitching with the need to jump on Husky and give him a tight hug to prove to them both that this was real, but he was bravely holding himself back. Barely.

"Cooro?" whispered Husky in shock, trying to sit up and squeezing his eyes tight as pain dashed through his skull – pain he didn't want his friend to see.

"Husky?" whimpered a voice torn between anxiety and delight – a familiar and very girly voice. He smiled and turned his head to see Nana at his right, taking his uninjured hand in her own and hugging it tight to herself. She started crying.

"Nana? It's okay…" said Husky gently.

Of course, he couldn't see himself the way they could. He didn't see the bandages about his head, around his arm, his thigh, how terrible the straps binding down his leg looked. The bruises and smaller bandages littering his skin… Nana sobbed harder at catching the note of underlying pain in Husky's voice.

Senri approached and set a massive hand on Husky's head, then abruptly sat down next to the bed and lowered his own head to rest against the small boy's on the pillow, a protective arm stretched out over Husky's chest. A deep sigh of relief came from the large bear +anima, who only needed one word. "Husky…" he murmured wearily, smiling to himself.

"Where does it hurt?" asked Nana. "Can we…?

Husky smiled slightly. "Just watch my head and leg…" he said softly. He still hissed in pain when Cooro jumped on his bed and pulled him into a tight hug around his middle. Nana was right after Cooro, though she was more careful not to jostle him as she climbed in and snuggled against Husky's other side.

"Missed you," whimpered Cooro, suddenly sounding upset. "Don't leave us again… Missed you…"

Nana continued to cry, snuggled up against Husky's other side, her head resting on Husky's chest just below Senri's arm. "It hurt so much without you…" she choked out, echoing Cooro's sentiment. "So, so much…"

"Yeah…" whispered Husky, too tired and relieved to be embarrassed. "Me too."

And that's how the doctor found them when he returned with Husky's medication, three Teen Titans just behind him. A large teenager kneeling protectively at the bedside, arm draped over his patient, and the two children curled up on either side of Husky. All were sleeping, dried tears on their faces, but their expressions were deeply content as they shifted and snuggled closer together.

"Like a litter of kittens," chuckled Dr. Marshall.

Cyborg bit back a chuckle as he carefully recorded the image with his cybernetic eye, knowing Starfire at least would want a picture of this. Raven smiled at the view, and Beastboy nudged her, giggling at seeing such a satisfied expression on her face.

* * *

Downstairs, Meredith sat curled up on a couch, her face buried in her arms, finally finished crying but nowhere near ready to move on.

How could she have let things get to this point? How could she have been so stupid? That poor, poor child…

Her cell phone rang.

It took her several long moments as she interpreted the sound, fumbled to retrieve it from a pocket, and finally answered it.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Meredith Johnson?"

"Dr. Jorgenson? Oh, is this about the appointment?"

"Yes, I'd like to…"

"We're going to have to cancel," interrupted Meredith, wiping her eyes and clearing her throat.

"What on earth do you mean, doctor?"

"Um… the child was injured and…"

"The creature, you mean," interrupted the biology professor. "And we cannot just cancel an expedited appointment with the bureau! You might not be able to get another when…"

"Don't call him that. And we're not doing this."

"Excuse me?"

"Colin and I aren't doing this to the child. It's not right. I apologize for all your trouble, doctor, but…"

"Mere!" exclaimed her old professor, calling her by an old nickname she went by in college. "Don't back away from what could be the find of the century! This could put you up there with…"

"I'm not doing it."

"… Fine," grumbled Dr. Jorgenson's voice, sounding irritated. "You want out? Fine."

"Thank you, doctor."

"I still need to see the child. I'll be by later."

"Doctor!" she protested. "He's terribly injured and…"

"What's wrong with him?"

"Well… his leg's damaged. He can't walk. And he has a concussion," summed up Meredith, not really wanting to go into detail.

"I'll be prepared."

Click. Buzz.

Meredith looked at the cell phone, confusion written all over her face. That had gone… strangely.

* * *

The Titans communicators started beeping and the three Titans remaining at the Canterfield estate quickly left Husky's sick-room to answer.

"Robin?" asked Cyborg.

"We've got trouble! The Hive Five are on the loose at the mall, and Red X is with them for some reason."

Raven glanced towards the room with the sleeping +anima. Even in their dreams, they were exhausted but content. She nodded to Cyborg.

"Shouldn't we…" began Beastboy, looking worried as his own eyes strayed towards the door.

"They'll be fine," replied Cyborg, setting a hand on his little buddy's shoulder. "We're on our way, Rob."

And they took off.

* * *

Dr. Marshall frowned as he reached over the other "+anima" kids to swipe a temperature reader over Husky's forehead.

"102°F," he grumbled to himself. "I'll have to get something from the pharmacy. The garbage on hand here would only aggravate his condition…"

He slipped a few items into his doctor's coat's pockets, threw some notes and miscellaneous medical tools into a large briefcase, and left the room with case in hand.

"Meredith!" he called out as he went down the stairs. The tear-ridden marine biologist looked up at him, from where she sat on a couch, staring at her cell phone.

"I'll be back in about an hour – keep an eye on Myrrha and his friends, would you? And when's Colin and Yeager going to be back?"

Meredith nodded, then frowned. "I'm not sure. But with Colin's lawyers, and the fact that Myrrha's adoption certificate is already filed, it can't be more than a few hours. He might get slapped with a charge for negligence or endangerment, but it'll probably be waived since the boy'll be classified as metahuman…"

"Good. Keep an eye on Myrrha's fever, and make sure he doesn't get too excited just 'cause his friends are here."

"Yes, Dr. Marshall."

* * *

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang.

Meredith answered, foolishly not bothering to check through the peephole or window. Expecting just her old professor, stubbornly insisting on seeing her now-useless research and the subject in question.

She was met with a small army, all in black military-grade suits, who brushed past her into the manor, shoving her aside and spreading out in all directions. They were obviously following some sort of pre-arranged plan, as there was no hesitance in their movements.

Two grabbed Meredith and pulled her to the side, instantly hounding her with questions, which she was too stunned to answer. Or even listen to.

Screaming and shouting came from upstairs, shortly followed by what sounded like gunshots and the noises of a fierce struggle.

_No way. Not happening. This is not happening._

* * *

"What's that noise?" asked Cooro sleepily, sitting up at the increasingly loud sounds of slamming doors and tromping boots.

Senri's eyes blinked open and it took him all of half a second to recognize the danger. He immediately formed his bear claw and charged towards the door while Cooro shook Nana and Husky awake.

Senri didn't even reach the door before it banged open, revealing at least eight men bearing strange machines, and even more in the hallway behind… Cooro thought the things in their hands looked like that strange thing that had knocked Husky out and hurt Nana in their own world, right before they came to this one.

The men lifted their tranquilizer rifles, but weren't fast enough to stop Senri, who barreled into them, claw swinging. Several went down, but more flooded into the room by the second. Cooro leapt to help, but was quickly overwhelmed.

Nana grabbed Husky in a fierce, protective hug and let out a supersonic screech. Several went down, holding their hands to their ears. A few more actually fell unconscious. But a couple seemed completely unaffected and fired their rifles. Apparently a few of the men were wearing earplugs, not that any of the +anima kids would know what those were.

Cooro, Nana, and Husky dropped unconscious with the impact of the first darts, the drug instantly knocking the children out. Senri went down, groaning, fighting the drug with everything he had.

The black-armored men ignored the fallen teen, stepping around him and fetching the silver-haired child from the bed. With quick professionalism, they unstrapped his leg and brushed Nana's limp arms out of the way. One hefted Husky up and headed out.

The man carrying Husky left the room and Senri let out a low, rumbling growl that alarmed the remaining men enough for them to level their rifles at the teenager again.

Senri forced his way upright, brushed aside the men as they shot at him and cruelly slammed their rifles against his body with the intent to incapacitate. Ignoring the pain and the drug trying to take over his system, he charged after the man leaving with Husky.

* * *

Dr. Jorgenson suddenly appeared in the entryway. He looked around, was handed a stack of research and scan results that had been found in the lab downstairs, and casually approached the shocked Meredith.

"Is it so surprising, Mere?" he asked casually, though the smirk on his face and spark in his eyes betrayed his true feelings. "You don't want this project, so I'll be taking it over. You didn't actually expect us to just drop the finding of the century?"

"N-no…" stuttered Meredith. Her eyes widened in shock as one of the black military-suited men started down the stairs, a limp Myrrha in his arms.

"NO!" screamed Meredith, leaping forward only to be grabbed and dragged back by the two men standing at either side of her. "YOU'LL KILL HIM!"

"Certainly not!" exclaimed Dr. Jorgenson, insulted. "We merely…"

A large, grey-haired teenager charged after the man carrying the fish +anima, arm in the shape of a bear claw, actually roaring with rage. He reached the man, snatched Husky back, and slashed his claw across the man's chest, easily slicing through the armor.

The man screamed and shots fired. Meredith watched in horror as the teenager hugged the unconscious silver-haired child protectively to his chest even as dozens of tranquilizer darts found their mark in his arms and back.

_What have we done? We started this._

The teenager slumped to the ground, still hugging the smaller boy protectively. After a minute, the teenager's body went limp. Several black-suited men charged forward and kicked aside the teenager, yanking the silver-haired child out of his arms. One lifted the child and set off.

Dr. Jorgenson approached the teenager, rolling the unconscious body over and eagerly examining the bear claw. "Fascinating…" he said, eyes sparkling.

Meredith was completely speechless, unable to do anything, as she spied the other two children, both unconscious, being carried down the stairs. Both children were in animal forms. The boy had feathers up his arms and huge black wings. The girl had bat wings and enormous ears.

_Husky's friends. They must be the same thing Husky is._

_I can't let Dr. Jorgenson find out!_

"How very, very interesting…" continued Dr. Jorgenson. "Perhaps I should take these children too?"

"They're just normal metas!" blurted out Meredith, completely spur of the moment. "I've tested these kids too – nothing that hasn't been seen a million times in irradiated children and mutants."

_He's gotta buy it. Please, please let him buy it!_

Dr. Jorgenson turned to eye her. The marine biologist's eyes were sharp and sure.

"Absolutely worthless," she said, working even a bit of irritation into her voice. "Normal meta brats – let the League's researchers handle them."

"My, Mere, you sound like you've had quite the change of heart."

But his attention was off the remaining three +anima. After all, he had no reason to doubt Meredith. No reason to believe they were anything special, that their medical results would be anything like the silver-haired human fish kid she'd so eagerly told him about the day before…

"Return Myrrha. He's my project."

"I thought you were giving him up."

"Not if it means someone else taking credit for _my_ work!"

Dr. Jorgenson laughed. "It's my project, now, Mere. It'll be _my_ name on the published findings. You gave up that right when you called off the meeting. Rather rudely, at that."

Meredith gritted her teeth. "I still want in," she said firmly. "Take me with you. I've worked with the child…"

_What Colin and I did was wrong…_ _But who knows what these monsters have planned. And I can't help Myrrha if I'm not there._

Her old professor looked her up and down appraisingly, then shrugged. "Fine, have it your way. I can always use another sub-researcher."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Please don't hate me for tearing away Husky's happy ending! He'll get one eventually, I promise! And remember, pretty much all of you _did_ vote for a longer story…_

_Special thanks to _Venas _for all the great +Anima/DC ideas! I especially love the Halfway House idea, and I'd love to use it in a story once I can figure out a plot! (Idea listed on my profile.)_

**_If anyone would like to volunteer to beta this story for me, please let me know! _**_I could have used some serious help with this chapter, and I have a feeling things might just get more complicated from here on out… If it's any incentive, betas get to see advance versions of chapters before editing (which could be weeks before I upload the finished chapter) as well as be my sounding board for ideas! Plus you get "Veto Power" if you don't like anything I wrote in the unedited chapter or don't like a certain direction I may start heading in. Betas have the right to beta previous chapters as well, if he or she so wishes. _

_As always, please please please review so you can let me know what you think and drop me any ideas! I'm also eagerly trying to figure out if there's any DC supervillains that would be interested in Husky or any of the other +anima – let me know if anyone comes to mind!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Notes: Special thanks to G'lek. Beta-read by Moofy-Fan._

_Please do not PM to ask about my progress. I usually don't mind, but I received several asking the same question about this story, to which the simple answer is that no, this is not dropped, and yes, I will be continuing. I regularly update my profile with progress and status of all my stories – I should think that would be faster than PMing me. It is always perfectly alright to PM me, just please let it be for something I haven't already stated or posted._

_Again, this story is not dropped, and I never considered it on hiatus. I apologize for the delay, but I can't make any promises about regular updates at this time._

* * *

There's an indescribable feeling when the worst happens unexpectedly. People have tried, coming up with phrases like 'the bottom dropped out of their world', but in truth the phrase does not do the emotion justice.

Dr. Marshall was quite familiar with the feeling. Having been in the medical business so long, he had tragically lost patients on operating tables before – he would never forget their names or faces, nor their families' when he had to deliver the news. He had been forced to tell people that they were dying, that they would lose a limb, that their child would be malformed. You'd think he'd be used to it by now.

Absolutely not.

Dr. Marshall again felt 'the bottom drop out of his world' as he turned the corner, and had to pull up at the shocking sight of dozens of black armored SUVs, all unmarked with tinted windows, exiting the Canterfield estate.

He could describe his own symptoms just fine. His hands shook, his palms sweated, his heart pounded, his brain ached from the sudden stress, his balance was thrown off, and his breathing was labored.

He could describe what was going through his own mind, should anyone ask. A long, repetitious 'please let him be all right, please let him be all right, please let him be all right…' as he was flooded with every image and sight of his young silver haired patient.

The brave kid, shouting and brandishing a fire poker. A delirious drugged child, flailing about as he tried to operate. A broken down little boy, confused and crying and throwing up.

And the last time he'd seen the child: still battered and wounded, but napping contentedly, curled up with his three friends.

Colin had said he was calling over the child's friends, but honestly Dr. Marshall hadn't expected such a tight bond. He'd only seen family members curled up together like that before. Even though the four were quite different appearance-wise, obviously not blood-related, they could've easily passed for very close, very dear siblings.

Dr. Marshall's hands tightened on the steering wheel as he watched the SUVs continue to turn out of the Canterfield estate, driving off towards the highway at what should've been illegal speeds. Except they were government vehicles. He couldn't think of anything else they could be. And, regardless of Colin's claims about his vast and varied collection, the only thing worthy of such attention would be the child. His patient. Who was certainly in no state to be moved.

Despite Colin's claims, could the child really have been an Atlantean? Was this becoming a political issue? No – that didn't make sense. Why would Meredith play along with something like that? And they were so excited about a 'mermaid'… and, regardless of all that, Colin had already gone down to the station with the Titans.

There was no reason for the government to raid someone's house for a kidnapped child. Not when the kidnapper had already been caught and the child was under medical care.

Unless Colin's efforts to file an adoption for the '+anima' child had been intercepted? Or perhaps, before the disastrous escape attempt, Meredith and Colin had filed some sort of scientific papers about the 'mermaid', and gotten the wrong sort of attention…?

He hadn't gotten the entire story out of Colin and Meredith after the child's last failed escape attempt, just bits and pieces. But all the facts led to one simple truth: the child was not human (as a mermaid, anyway), nor Atlantean, nor even metahuman – though Meredith and Colin had argued to have the child classified as one for the adoption. Apparently the child called himself a '+anima'.

Something someone very powerful apparently found very interesting.

As he watched, the last of the black SUVs finally turned out of the driveway and Dr. Johnson was able to turn into the long, private drive that led to the Canterfield manor. The manicured front lawn and gardens had been trashed, run over carelessly, parked on, and trampled over.

Please let his patient be all right. Please let all four of those poor children be all right.

The doctor quickly pulled up right in front of the main entrance, yanking his car into park and turning off the engine. He grabbed his medical bag and flew out of the car and up the steps into the mansion, not bothering to close either his car door or the manor's front door, which was already ominously open.

The children, Myrrha's friends, lay in a heap in the main entry. Like discarded trash, waiting to be thrown away. His patient was nowhere in sight, and probably long gone from the eerie silence in the huge manor.

Myrrha's friends were obviously the same thing as Myrrha, which explained the image he'd glimpsed earlier on his way out. While not 'mermaids' by any means, they all had animal parts, which the doctor took in as pertinent medical information as he dropped to his knees and examined the children quickly for injuries.

The little girl with light brown hair had huge bat ears and dark brown bat wings. She seemed a little banged up, but otherwise fine. Same for the dark haired boy, with feathers down his arms and beautiful black bird's wings on his upper back.

He was worried the most about the large teenager, slumped on his stomach with tranquilizer darts sticking out of his back, large, dark bruises growing on his human arm and face, and blood on his outstretched bear claw. No one could safely handled that much of any sort of tranquilizer, for surely they wouldn't be shooting anything else at children?

The doctor efficiently yanked out the empty darts, being careful of the needles. While he checked the boy's vitals, which were surprisingly strong for one in his state, he dug out his cell phone with his free hand and called the emergency number Cyborg of the Teen Titans had given him to keep them updated on Myrrha's health. He heard a click, and before waiting for a voice, or even to see if he'd gotten a machine or an actual person, he left a short, sharp demand for them to return to the Canterfield Estate immediately.

The tranq darts (which thankfully they were), were clearly marked, and he recognized the symbols and formula on the side, letting out a sharp breath of relief. He recognized it, and knew an easy solution to counteract an overdose of it.

* * *

Cyborg clicked on his communicator, but before he could say anything, Dr. Marshall's voice barked over the receiver.

"Get back to the Canterfield Estate NOW!" demanded the medical doctor. The doctor disconnected before waiting for a response.

Cyborg glanced down to the unconscious Gizmo he had just finished handcuffing, backpack already destroyed during the fight, then over to where Robin and the rest of the Titans were also cleaning up the remainder of the Hive Five and doing the best they could about the more dangerous structural damage to the mall.

Starfire was busy welding a steel column back in place, holding up the roof until the column could again support the weight. Raven was replacing the railings for the second level with one hand glowing with dark energy, while her other glowing hand kept Kid Wykkyd and Billy Numerous trapped in an energy ball. Beastboy sat in rhinoceros form on Mammoth's chest, making sure the giant teen wasn't getting up anytime soon. See-More lay unconscious flat on his back in front of an annoyed Robin, who was glaring at the skylight Red X had managed to escape through during the chaotic battle.

At least Jinx was an honorary Teen Titan now. The only thing that could've made the mess worse would've been the girl's disastrous bad luck energy.

"Robin!" Cyborg called from across the room. "Husky's doctor just called! He sounded frantic, wants us back at the manor immediately."

The rest of the Titans froze, their attention immediately diverted towards Cyborg and his news.

In a flurry, Beastboy shifted back and rushed over, Starfire finished the column with a green energy blast from her eyes and dropped the ceiling, Raven finished the railings and slammed her captives to the ground, and Robin snapped handcuffs on See-More, carrying him over next to Gizmo.

"No way!" gasped Beastboy, bouncing and trying to see Cyborg's communicator – as if the doctor was still on the line and he wanted to talk to him himself. "Something happened? We shoulda been there!"

"I hope Husky is all right!" began Starfire worriedly, flying down and turning to Robin with wide eyes. "Could his health have made the turn to the worse? Should we not make with the haste?"

"I'll go," volunteered Raven, pulling up her hood. "I can teleport over."

"We'll meet you there," said Robin, not arguing with her. "Star, you go too. The rest of us will finish cleaning up here and join you as soon as possible."

"But it's a doctor!" protested Beastboy. "Something must've happened! Shouldn't we…?"

"Finish up, then we can go! I am not having these guys running off again!" ordered Robin.

* * *

With a flare of dark energy in the shape of an enormous black bird, Raven and Starfire disappeared from the mall and reappeared before the Canterfield manor.

They were momentarily stunned at the sight before them, so different from how they'd left it not even an hour ago. The ruined lawn, the trampled gardens, the door open to the world instead of locked tight. The doctor's car, door open and swinging slightly, was ominous enough to chill their hearts.

With a sense of foreboding, they silently flew straight in to check on the +anima kids.

Dr. Marshall was still treating an unconscious and injured Senri when Raven and Starfire arrived, and Cooro and Nana lay unconscious and battered, though the doctor had moved them to lay more comfortably. Starfire immediately became teary, sinking to the ground, unable to fly at the sight in front of her. She ran over to the two small children, while Raven rushed over to the medical doctor.

"Search for Meredith and Myrrha!" ordered the doctor, who was injecting Senri with something and keeping a close watch on the boy's breathing and pulse while he did so – hauntingly aware that Myrrha had had a bad reaction to a tranquilizer when in his animal-form. "I've been here about five minutes! Haven't heard a thing!"

"Who?" asked Raven, frowning.

"A woman, a scientist! And Myrrha is the boy, my patient! You called him Husky!"

Raven rose into the air, closing her eyes and reaching her empathic senses out."There is no one but us in this building," she concluded, her heart sinking as she returned to the ground at the doctor's side.

"Damn. I had a bad feeling. Check the others, would you? I have to keep an eye on this one to make sure there's no reaction to the drugs.

Starfire had already been checking Nana and Cooro while Raven spoke with the doctor, so Raven went over to join her.

The alien princess hadn't found anything more than a few bruises on either of the two children, to her relief. Not that it was much relief, knowing these children had lost their friend, a precious member of their family, again. She wanted them to wake up, to know they were okay, but a part of her dreaded when they opened their eyes…

As Raven used her energy to check for and heal any head trauma on Nana, the little girl groaned and sat up.

"What…" she looked up at Raven, her eyes slightly dazed. As they met Raven's sad eyes, her own grew to enormous proportions as the earlier events returned to her. She glanced at Starfire, who rushed over and pulled the little girl into a tight hug just as her eyes started welling up.

"It's true?" whimpered Nana weakly, a sob chocking her voice. "It's true?"

Tears fell from Starfire's eyes at the same time as Nana's. Raven pulled her hood up to hide her own expression and went to check on Cooro next.

"We just got him back!" protested the little girl, pushing away from Starfire and unsteadily getting to her feet. Dr. Marshall, having concluded Senri would be all right, grabbed her arm before she could get too far and led her to a chair. He started giving her a physical, making sure everything was working right.

"It can't be true!" shouted Nana, shoving him away violently. She spread her bat's wings and leapt into the air. "We finally had him back!" she screamed, her voice taking on an echo-y quality as she flew up the stairs and towards the disheveled room Husky had been in. "We FINALLY had him back!"

Within seconds they all had to cover their ears as a terribly high-pitched shrieking began. It continued for several long minutes before abruptly stopping.

Cooro took the news only fractionally better when he awoke, jolted awake by Nana's screams. He covered his ears, wincing, until it ended. The look in his eyes told Raven that he remembered full-well why Nana was screaming.

"It's not fair," he whispered, seeing her eyes on him. He sadly got up and went up the stairs to join Nana.

Raven turned towards the door at the sound of the T-car and Robin's R-cycle pulling up outside. In seconds, Robin, Beastboy, and Cyborg rushed inside, as horrified as everyone else at this turn of events. They'd been expecting a medical issue or something, not… whatever this was.

Raven briefed the others with the help of Dr. Marshall, explaining that Meredith and Husky/Myrrha were missing. Undoubtedly taken in those black SUVs Dr. Marshall had seen. That Nana and Cooro were upstairs and fine, though each had some bruises, having obviously fought to save their friend. They'd probably have to get the full story out of those two, since it was a safe bet that Senri wouldn't be much help.

Senri's condition was obviously the worst of the three. He had several serious injuries, on top of a severe overdose of tranquilizer, plus the drug Dr. Marshall had used to counteract the overdose. Yet he still woke far earlier than expected, sitting up groggily as he heard the commotion around him.

His eyes were dead as they flickered open. Heedless of his injuries or Dr. Marshall's orders to stay down, he got to his feet and started out the door without the slightest acknowledgement of anyone around him. Sure any of the Titans could've pinned him down, but they figured he needed a few minutes to himself after a trauma like that.

None of the Titans had seen the convoy of SUVs that Dr. Marshall had mentioned on their way over, and Cyborg stepped aside to see if he could find anything on them by satellite, traffic camera, or news or police report. Starfire went upstairs to check on Cooro and Nana.

She returned within a minute, shouting, "They're gone!"

* * *

It wasn't that hard to track where the three had run off to, between Raven's senses and the small trackers Cyborg had secretly stitched into the +anima's clothing. To Starfire's chagrin, she hadn't been able to get them to change into anything else – though it was just as well at this point.

The reason the four +anima had left became obvious as the Teen Titans come into view.

Cooro, a cold look in his dark eyes, dropped to the ground, not bothering to hide his wings away. Nana huffily ignored them, waiting in the air with a "Make this quick!" expression in her body language. Senri glared at them angrily and impatiently.

Their reaction threw off most of the Titans, who had been expecting tears and confusion. Not anger.

Robin instantly caught on. While uncommon in Jump City, he'd seen the same look on countless victims in Gotham. Victims who believed their heroes had failed.

"I'm sorry," he said, stunning his team.

Raven opened her mouth to criticize him, stating the clear facts on why and how this was not remotely their fault, but Robin waved at her to keep quiet.

"We promised you we'd find Husky for you and we did... Only to lose him. We shouldn't have left you unguarded, no matter how safe you appeared. We shouldn't have concluded that the problem was solved, that everything had come to a happy ending and we could move on." He took a deep breath. "We lost your friend. I'm sorry. But don't do this."

"Do what?" asked Beastboy, before Cyborg clapped a hand over his mouth.

Cooro narrowed his eyes.

"Don't go off on your own," Robin said calmly. "We have resources you don't. We know this city. We know people. We can get him back, the legal way. The permanent way."

"We'll do whatever we have to!" said Nana bitterly. "Like we were ever bothered by whether something was legal or not."

"You'll get yourselves arrested," said Cyborg, in his big brother voice – earnest and serious, but willing to listen. "You can't just break into wherever and steal Husky back. It could be the government, or a private firm. They'd have you arrested, then take Husky back. You'd lose him a third time."

"They won't catch us!" shouted Cooro. "They never catch us!"

The implications of Nana's bitter comments, of Cooro's argument, slowly sunk in as the Titans realized that their new friends were not entirely above-board on their pasts. At the very least, they had as good as admitted to being thieves.

Beastboy's eyes widened. Robin's eyes narrowed. Starfire and Cyborg exchanged glances but stood firm. But it was Raven who recovered her voice first, mostly as she'd been suspicious of as much from the beginning.

She'd seen how quick Senri was to pull his claw out. Cooro's flippancy was a step past the acceptable norm, even by Beastboy's standards. And Nana was obviously keeping secrets behind that adorable smile – Raven hadn't missed how the girl looked away before she replied to certain questions. The only reason she hadn't accused them… is that she sensed everything they had done had been with good reason, or at least what they'd thought was good reason. But, while they were not innocents, they certainly were incredibly naïve, which was always the quickest way to earn her irritation.

"This isn't your world!" scolded Raven, harsher than she meant to. "In our world, law enforcement officers are specially trained to capture people with special powers and abilities, and many of those people are far stronger and more intelligent than any of you."

All three children flinched. However, the sharp words had the opposite effect. Three pairs of eyes, all filled with distrust, turned towards the Titans. Eyes that had seen far too much, that knew by experience that they had to take care of things themselves.

Eyes of abandoned children forced to grow up too fast, in a world where the ones that should have cared for them could not be trusted.

"Not your problem," said Senri stiffly. "Our Husky."

"Friends, please," began Starfire. "Let us help." Not one of the +anima even glanced towards her.

Robin exchanged a look with Cyborg and Raven, who were standing closest to him. Their eye connection told each other all they needed to know.

These +anima were fast falling into the 'dangerous metahuman' category.

"Let me make this clear," said Robin, taking a step forward to stand directly in front of Cooro. The dark haired boy actually had to step back and look up to see Robin's face. "If you do something illegal, if you hurt anyone, we will be the ones coming after you. And we do not want that."

Cooro actually bared his teeth in a snarl. Taking the cue, Senri transformed his claw and swept forward. Nana took a deep breath for a supersonic screech.

The fight was over before it even began. Beastboy blocked Senri's blind charge by transforming into another bear, while Cyborg slipped behind the teenager and grabbed Senri's transformed arm. Senri was forced down with his arm twisted behind his back. A black energy gag formed around Nana's mouth before she could scream, rendering her helpless, while Starfire flew up and plucked her right out of the sky in a crushing hug. Robin grabbed Cooro's wrists as the boy tried to hit him, pushing down slightly enough to buckle the boy's knees and force him into a kneeling position.

"We can't live without Husky," whispered Cooro, all the fight gone from his voice. Back to the scared, confused child who'd discovered his way home had been destroyed on top of losing one of his best friends.

"We know," said Robin, releasing the boy's wrists, letting him slump to the ground. Nana had similarly been released from the energy gag and was now clinging to Starfire, sobbing her heart out. Senri continued to try squirm out of Cyborg's relentless hold, but his fight was getting weaker by the second as his eyes turned from blind anger to blank hopelessness.

"And you won't have to," continued Robin. "Just don't give up on us. You don't have to do this alone."

"Please, friends," said Starfire, her voice trembling with entreaty and emotion. No matter what they had done, she knew they were good kids. They deserved to have a home, a family, a life. They were desperately struggling to keep hold of the closest thing they had to just that. They were, in a way, a reflection of every reason she had decided to become a hero. "Please, please let us help you."

The +anima didn't fight any more on the trip back to the Tower. But they didn't smile or talk either.

And those eyes still held distrust and rebelliousness.

* * *

"Fascinating!" exclaimed Dr. Jorgenson. The grey-haired semi-retired professor of marine biology poured over the findings of the tests. His sub-researchers had been running almost non-stop scans and tests on the unconscious child strapped to the operating table for nearly two hours. "The tests in this form really do return as completely human!"

"I already proved that," grumbled Meredith, unconsciously fixing Myrrha's silver hair as she stood beside the table.

"The more tests, the more solid the evidence," explained Dr. Jorgenson, coming over and undoing the straps pinning the child in place, leaving only the ones around the child's wrists. "Now we just have to run more tests on its fish form, to confirm your earlier results. After all, that is the form we're truly interested in."

"We'll have to wait for him to wake up," began Meredith. "He fell into a semicoma from your rough treatment! With his concussion…"

Jorgenson cut her off. "Nonsense. Tests won't kill it."

"It'll rouse him, which in this case would be…"

She was again interrupted. "It transforms underwater, Colin said?"

"Yes, but you can't possibly be thinking of …"

"Oh, no. I'm not placing it in the observation tank yet. It would be difficult to run the tests we're planning. I have a different idea entirely – one I'm quite proud of."

Meredith looked at the man, completely stupefied, as he gestured to one of his sub-researchers. The other scientist pulled over a machine that looked like an oxygen tank and an attached mask.

Understanding came to Meredith in a rush. "NO!" she shouted, leaping forward. She was immediately grabbed by a guard, her arms pinned behind her. "That's inhumane! I won't let you!" The guard muffled her shouting with a large hand over her mouth.

"It's inhumane to make a fish breathe water?" laughed Jorgenson, taking the mask himself and fitting it over the unconscious child's face. He gestured two more scientists under him over. Each one pinned down one of the creature's arms, preparing for the transformation. The three sub-researchers exchanged eager looks before turning to Jorgenson, excitement in their eyes. He nodded, finished securing the mask, and gestured to the man at the tank, who flicked the switch.

Water rushed down the tube.

They were going to force the transformation… by drowning the boy.

Meredith watched helplessly as the boy's eyes jolted open and a scream of pain tore from his throat, garbled by the water flooding through his nostrils and open mouth and into his very human lungs. His back arched, trying to escape, but the researchers easily pinned down the twelve year old boy.

He was again in the lake. Thrown in there by his stepmother Queen Dylana. He could see her silhouette, could imagine her triumphant gaze glaring down at him. The water burned as he gasped desperately, only succeeding in letting in more of the torturous liquid. He was sinking, drowning, couldn't breathe, it burned…

Please, he begged no one in particular, and yet everyone and anyone at the same time. Please, please let it stop! Help me! I beg you! I don't want to die! I'll do anything! I need to breathe!

Tears poured from his eyes as he relived his trauma and his body forced the transformation against his will.

Gasps went up around the room as the fish form began at his neck and started rushing downwards.

Within seconds, the researchers had a beautiful merchild on their operating table, pinned down, sobbing in choking mouthfuls of water – which poured unheeded out of the gills on his chest, over the table, and onto the floor. There was a drain, as there always was in these sorts of places – though Meredith felt sick at the thought that the drain was there for cleaning up blood. In her mind's eye, the water pumping out of those gills took on a bright red hue – her stomach churned.

Jorgenson turned to face another researcher at a digital video camera. "Tell me you got that!" he eagerly exclaimed. The researcher gave him a thumbs up, not taking his eyes from the viewer.

She'd come along to stop them from doing things like this!

Meredith tore the hand from her mouth. "Stop this!" she cried out. "This is wrong! Let him go!"

Jorgenson irritably waved at the guard, who began dragging her off. "LET MYRRHA GO!" she screamed as she was dragged away, still struggling.

"Such concern over a fish," chuckled Jorgenson. "A very pretty fish, granted. Knox, strap that tail down before it hurts someone. Remmy, I want you to start collecting samples. Georgette, keep an eye on the…" He continued passing on his instructions.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Again, I apologize for the delay. Hopefully next time won't be as long a wait. **Also, there is a poll up for this story on my profile. **Thanks for reading, and please review!_


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Notes: This is pretty much the start of the new arc – hope you enjoy! It was going to be longer but… heh, I've kept you guys waiting too long as it is._

_Oh, and a reviewer pointed out that there's some problems with this story, particularly with Cooro being OOC. I agree there's some issues, but at this point of the story, it really is much too late to change anything, and I honestly have no intention of going back and editing previous chapters. I've got my hands full just trying to find time to write NEW chapters! Thank you very much for any constructive criticism, though! I'll keep it in mind for any future fanfiction._

_Also… NEVER thought it'd happen, but we've topped 100 reviews! Thank you all so very, very much and hope to hear more from you all in the future!_

_Beta-read by Moofy-Fan._

* * *

Colin and Yeager had returned to find Dr. Marshall sitting on their doorstep in front of their empty and ruined mansion. It took only minutes for them to get the full story out of the doctor.

Colin immediately took action, knowing that stomping around like a child would do nothing. He charged inside, straight to his office.

"What are you looking for, sir?" asked Yeager, standing in the doorway to the room as Colin scrambled through his drawers and shelves, getting increasingly frantic.

"Myrrha's adoption papers!" exclaimed Colin. "All we need are those," he said, trying to sound calm and reasonable, even as his hands started shaking as he came up with nothing. And he was usually quite organized.

Yeager's experienced eyes swept over the room, easily taking in the tell-tale signs of forced entry and search. For one thing, this room was supposed to be locked, but the door had swung open effortlesslywhen Colin burst through.

"All I have to do is prove Myrrha is my son!" continued Colin. "Then we'll get him back, before they can hurt him any more! And I can let him go back with his friends, or maybe they could live here and we could…"

"Sir."

"It's not like I meant to hurt him any! I just wanted a treasure, and what a treasure! A mermaid! So incredibly beautiful and… I didn't mean to hurt him!"

"Young master, calm down."

"Where is it?!" cried out Colin finally, going back to the top of his desk and starting his search all over.

"Master Canterfield, the papers were probably stolen."

"WHAT? But why… No, no, it's no problem! The lawyers have a copy, and it's already been filed! Here, just let me…" He grabbed his phone, ignoring Yeager's frown from the doorway.

After three rings, he heard one of his lawyers answer. The man's voice was strangely awkward and out of breath.

"Miller? I can't seem to find Myrrha's adoption papers – could you fax over a copy? Immediately, if you would…"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Colin froze. The phone's volume was quite loud, so Yeager heard every word. His frown darkened, the worry setting in.

"Don't joke with me, Miller! And get me Smith and Liams too! I need those papers!"

"There are no papers, Mr. Canterfield. There never were. Smith and Liams will tell you the exact same thing."

"Of course there were!" exploded Colin. "We just finished them last night! You sent them in this morning!"

There was a long pause, the only sound Miller's breathing.

"Trust me on this, Colin," the lawyer whispered harshly. "The papers were never filed. We filed them, yes, but they were not entered, and now there is no trace of them. And if you know what's good for you, you'll agree with me when I very clearly say that 'There were never any adoption papers'."

And he hung up.

Colin was frozen where he stood. Yeager walked across the room and hung up his young master's phone for him, then shook him slightly.

The billionaire collector, the young playboy, the spoiled rich brat, looked up at Yeager with the terrified eyes of a man in over his head.

"What are they doing to him, Yeager?" he let out shakily.

"The better question, sir," began the butler. "Would be, 'What can we do for him?'"

Colin raised a shaking hand to his temple. "I got him into this…"

"Yes, sir. You did."

* * *

_"We'll do whatever we have to! Like we were ever bothered by whether something was legal or not."_

_"They won't catch us! They never catch us!"_

Those two phrases, Nana's and Cooro's words, kept spinning endlessly in Robin's mind on the trek back to Titan's Tower. With each round, the words seemed more ominous, and his dark hunch was only echoed by the glares the +animas shot his way every now and then.

They hadn't said anything more, and honestly they hadn't actually said that much.

Really, they hadn't said much at all since the first time they'd all met.

They'd told him they were visiting Senri's uncle, a Kim-un-Ker, who he figured were some sort of native people similar to Native Americans. That accounted for Senri's dress and the admittedly rather alarming hunting knife at the teenager's side, and was probably the only reason they hadn't confiscated said knife, along with the small hatchet tucked in Cooro's belt.

They'd explained that they took care of their own food. Husky spear-fished, Senri and Nana hunted, and Cooro scavenged. When they were in a town or staying with someone, they would make or buy treats like bread and candy.

They'd mentioned they got up early, that they were used to taking care of themselves, and that they had transformed to save themselves from traumatic deaths.

_"My parents died before I was born, Nana's dad was a drunk who tried to kill her, and Senri lost his memory, but we found out his dad actually was taken over by an evil +anima and tried to kill him. Husky's parents are alive, but he can't live with them after he almost drowned and turned into a fish +anima, since +anima are slaves in his country and his dad's the king and all."_

Those words, spoken so lightly by Cooro just yesterday now seemed layered with so much more. How could he not have been paying attention enough to realize how many questions that statement raised?

What had happened to Cooro's parents? Who raised him? How was that related to his transformation? Why didn't Nana want to talk about it? Why was he so careless about rules, laws, and authority, when he doesn't seem the sort to have raised himself?

How long did Nana have to deal with an alcoholic father? Did her mother ever try to do anything? Where did she flee to after she transformed? How did she take care of herself? Had she turned to thievery in order to survive?

How did Senri saving himself from a father possessed by an evil anima… how was that related to his own transformation, memory loss, and obvious mental problems? How HAD he saved himself from his father? Was it related to the not so healthy relationship with his uncle Cooro and Nana had implied? Had Senri been forced to kill his own father?

And Husky… A prince, since his father was a king. He hadn't thought about it much at the time, but a PRINCE, in a country where +anima are slaves, transforming into a +anima, running away… How on earth had a prince fended for himself? Especially since Cooro and Nana agreed that his only distinguishing trait was beauty? From what they said… Had he traveled to an entire other country on his own while in hiding? Just how had he managed that?

_"We'll do whatever we have to!"_

_"They never catch us!"_

What on earth had these children been through?

It was time to find the answers. But first precautions had to be taken.

They reached Titans Tower, and Robin gestured everyone forward to their main living area (the tragic remains of their TV still leaning against the wall) while he grabbed Cyborg's arm and pulled him aside.

"Locking them in?" asked Cyborg, a little resignedly, an uncomfortable smile that was more of a grimace on his face. He really didn't want to do that, but he was no fool.

"We can't have them going after Husky on their own," said Robin firmly, though this couldn't have been an easy decision for him to make.

Even with as little as they knew about the +anima kids, they were obviously very free spirits. It felt… wrong, very wrong, locking the door behind them. Like caging a wild animal. But that is just what they had to do.

"If they don't try to escape, they'll never know," reasoned Robin, as much to himself as Cyborg. The older teen nodded and turned back to head towards the controls for all possible exits.

* * *

The rest of the Titans knew even without Robin's orders what inevitably had to come next, and had done their best to make the +anima as comfortable as possible, despite the eerie stubborn quietness of the three.

Starfire had sat next to them and started telling them stories about this world and her experiences in it – trying to get their minds off what was going on. Honestly, they weren't listening.

Beastboy had gotten snacks, which was very considerate for him and more of a sign than anything about the uncomfortable atmosphere. He even remembered that Cooro loved apples, Nana loved bread, and Senri loved candy. Each of the +anima had grabbed something and nibbled, but after a bite or two seemed to drift off.

Raven stood in the corner, hood up, just watching them. Trying to make sense of them. Putting together the snippets of memories and emotions with the little they'd said about their pasts to try make a story. Figure them out as, not just children – for that would be greatly underestimating them, she felt – but as people. They were every bit as complicated, if not more so, than most adults twice their age.

She saw Robin finish with Cyborg out of the corner of her eye and waited for Robin to start over. Only once he was within hearing range did she decide to start. If Robin did, he might go straight into interrogation mode – which she feared would make the children clam up even more.

Raven sighed, lowering her hood. This was so not her type of thing.

"So, what did you mean?" she asked softly, approaching and sitting next to Cooro.

The three were huddled close together. Senri was in the middle, probably for comfort from the way the younger ones leaned against him.

"What?" asked Cooro, almost rebelliously, though with a trace of actual confusion still lining his voice.

They probably didn't really remember what they'd said in the heat of the moment.

"You said they never catch you," answered Raven. "What did you mean?"

Robin had reached the couch, but seemed content to let Raven take the lead for now.

Cooro and Nana sulked, and surprisingly Senri stepped up to the plate. He patted Cooro's head and Nana's arm before speaking.

"They chase us," he said, frowning.

That wasn't very helpful.

"Why?" asked Raven. She had a good idea, but this was their turn to talk. She would let them.

Robin was fidgeting with the need to demand more of an explanation. Was it because they were +anima? Was it because they were criminals? Why?

Senri frowned. Nana sobbed out of the blue and buried her head against Senri's arm. Cooro grabbed Senri's hand tight, actually trembling slightly.

"Different reasons," said Senri, finally shrugging after almost a minute of silence. "Don't like +anima. Anyone strange. We… need to help each other."

Raven met glances with Robin and knew that wasn't a good enough explanation. It was still the most any of them had heard the teen say since they'd arrived, but it still wasn't enough. It still left too many questions unanswered. It was obvious Robin was biting down the urge to demand more, but thankfully he still seemed willing to let her continue moderating for the moment, at least.

"This is a difficult question, as you're all so young, but… did you ever do anything that made people angry with you? Was there a reason?"

Senri looked confused, as if he couldn't understand that people could've been reacting to something he had done.

"No," answered Cooro stubbornly, even as Nana whimpered a choked, "Yes…"

They both suddenly glared at each other over Senri.

"There was no reason for them to get angry!" insisted Cooro.

"We stole from them!" Nana shouted back. "We're monsters! Of course they hate us!"

"You know that's not true!" shouted back Cooro. "Husky would get mad at you if he heard that!"

Nana's mouth shut and her face flushed in shame.

"Sometimes you have to take things to survive!" insisted Cooro, now darting his glare towards Robin and the others, making it clear he was talking to them just as much as to Nana. "We do what we have to! It's that simple. And we're NOT monsters! We don't hurt people – they're the ones that come after us!"

"But you defend yourselves, of course?" asked Robin, not able to keep quiet any longer.

That simple question seemed to enrage Cooro, but before the boy could say anything, Senri formed his claw and held him back with it. For some reason, the boy seemed to find the bear claw comforting and hugged it instead of shouting.

"I watch over them," said Senri. "And they watch over me. No one can take us. Not again."

"Take you?" asked Robin in confusion.

"In Sailand!" began Nana, between sobs. "They took Senri and Husky, to make them slaves! And then we agreed to be slaves, but not really, and we left the collars behind and stole Husky back! And then helped him see his mom – that's all he wanted! Why was it so bad?! We left right after! And then that creepy scientist, Fly!"

Cooro froze, eyes widening.

Nana quickly bolted upright. "I'm sorry, Cooro!" she yelped. "I didn't mean…!"

This was getting way too deep way too fast. Collars? Slaves? Only trying to see his mom, then leaving? A creepy scientist? And there was something wrong in the way Cooro reacted to that seriously wrong.

But the boy shook himself. "I'm over it," he said softly, playing with the claws on Senri's bear arm, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Who is Fly?" asked Raven softly, trying to be quiet to keep Cooro from reacting again.

"An old…. An anima scientist," said Cooro, fidgeting. "He's probably dead. Wanted to fly."

"With Cooro's wings," whimpered Nana, snuggling against Senri's side again and wiping her face with a handkerchief from her little cloth purse.

Robin remembered Cyborg's report from when he'd been giving the children medical examinations. He had written Nana's comments about scientists back home that would remove anima markings and try transplanting it to others, and how it didn't last long.

"He told us we could be normal…" continued Nana, glancing over and meeting Starfire's eyes. The sweet, empathetic look on the princess' face gave her the strength to continue. To make the point they had to make.

"But he was wrong. We need our anima, to take care of ourselves. To take care of each other. So we kept them, and Cooro got his back."

Raven tried to keep herself from frowning at that last statement. Cooro had actually gotten rid of his anima? She remembered the connection he'd had with the anima that she'd felt during the meditation, just how much more connected he seemed to be with it than the others did. As if it truly was a part of him right down to the core.

No wonder he'd acted strangely at the mention of that scientist.

"So, when you said you do whatever you have to, you meant because you have to take care of each other. That's why you ran off to save Husky on your own," began Raven.

The three +anima nodded.

"But you don't have to here," Raven finished. "You don't have to do everything yourselves. It's our job to take care of you."

"We take care of ourselves," protested Nana weakly, not sounding like she was completely against the idea, just uncomfortable with it.

"Has no one ever cared for you?" asked Starfire, sounding worried.

"Sometimes there's nice people. Like the nice couple with the apple orchard that loved Cooro? But we can't stay. And we can't tell them we're +anima, or they'll treat us different," answered Nana.

"So you never had a choice, really," said Starfire softly, pityingly.

Senri gave her a puzzled look, and Cooro shook his head, flatly denying Starfire's statement.

"Well… not exactly," disagreed Nana. "We had other options. We could've stayed with the Kim-un-Ker, or with Husky's aunt," said Nana, though her dislike of either idea was clear in her tone of voice. It was very clear that they felt caring for themselves the best option of those available.

Robin's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Husky has an aunt?" he interrupted.

"Yeah, a slaveowner. She's nice though, and she didn't chase us when we left our collars and ran away."

The Titans exchanged looks, with no clue how to take that.

Cooro noticed the look. "Crystala's really nice. But we don't want to be slaves."

"We'd rather hide in Astaria," finished Nana. "And we're good at taking care of ourselves."

Senri frowned. "It's not right. Making others take care of you," he insisted. His implication obvious.

It wasn't that they had no choice – it's that they wanted to take care of themselves, to not have to rely on anyone.

"Why?" asked Beastboy, bewildered. He'd had to take care of himself before, and honestly, it was dreadful. He tried to every extent possible to blank out those memories with his fonder remembrances of his real parents, the Doom Patrol, and all his Teen Titans friends.

Three pairs of identically bewildered eyes stared at him, and then exchanged glances with each other.

"It… just is," said Senri, frowning at his own inarticulateness. Even he knew that wasn't a real answer.

Cooro nodded. "It's not like we never accept help from people. We just move on after a couple weeks."

Nana snuggled even closer to Senri. "It's better this way. We take care of each other." She hugged Senri's arm, mumbling her next comment so softly it was almost missed. "That's why we need Husky," she whispered.

There was something decidedly wrong about their argument, but it was obviously such a core belief all of the +anima shared that there was simply no arguing with them.

Beastboy couldn't stop though. "But… but sometimes you need to rely on others. What if you can't get what you need on your own? It's not like you can just steal it!"

The +anima exchanged looks. Almost guilty looks.

"Stealing is wrong," said Cooro softly, affirmatively. "That's why you have to be ready to get punished if you get caught."

Robin frowned, face tight beneath his mask. "What do you mean by punished?" Though he had a good idea.

"Beaten up. Captured. Enslaved. Killed. Depends where you are, really," replied Cooro, not sensing the tenseness of the situation.

"And if you steal here?"

Cooro and Nana exchanged looks over Senri. Nana spoke up hesitantly, understanding the coldness in Robin's voice.

"You come after us?"

"We'd have to arrest you and keep you locked up," said Raven, though she glanced at Cyborg for some way to save this discussion.

The threesome shared determined glances and made to get up. Cyborg gestured them to sit back down.

"Look, we just don't want you breaking any laws while you're here," he said calmly, in his big-brother voice he used often on children and victims. "This world is very dangerous, especially to children. And, like Robin said earlier, we'd really, really hate to have to go after you guys."

Nana's eyes narrowed, as if in sudden understanding of something. "Husky always said not to trust military," she whispered to Cooro and Senri. If the others didn't have such keen hearing, they'd have missed it. When she realized the others heard, and looked quite shocked and even insulted, she held her pretty head up stubbornly. "He said the military always does what they're told, instead of what's right!"

"But these guys have been cool so far!" replied Cooro in a normal voice, sounding confused. "They did get Husky back. We just… we just weren't strong enough." He looked down. "It was us that couldn't protect Husky… not them…"

Senri frowned, staring down at his claw and hand in puzzlement. The idea of not being strong enough was quite the conundrum to him. He'd always had to be wary of using too much force and hurting people, before all this.

"We shouldn't have relied on them anyway," huffed Nana rebelliously. "That's what Husky would say!"

"Husky is not here!" said Robin impatiently. "The fact of the matter is that you guys have to cooperate with us and do things our way while you're in this city, in this world. You are not strong enough to get your friend back on your own. You couldn't even last five seconds against us!"

While this was probably the absolute worst thing to say, as seconded by the stunned looks from the rest of the Teen Titans towards their leader, it did the trick. The reminder that they were so weak in this new world seemed to give the threesome pause.

He rubbed his head. "Look, in this world, you will get arrested if you try to kill an animal to eat it. You will get arrested if you steal something, or go somewhere that you're not welcome. You will get locked up for a very long time if you actually hurt anyone, even on accident. You could even be captured by the same people that already took Husky – and then what would you do?"

He had their attention now, albeit reluctantly. And with some obvious confusion over some of these 'laws'. Nana actually grabbed Cooro's hand when he opened his mouth and shook her head 'no' at him.

"You need to trust us. We'll get back Husky, but we need more time to figure out who took him and what's going on. We need to make sure no one can ever take him, or any of you, again. Please, let us help you," he finished sincerely.

There was a long silence. Finally they agreed, all nodding.

* * *

Something was wrong.

Everything hurt, but that wasn't what was wrong. It was something more important than pain. He could handle pain.

There were voices… mostly male. One more domineering than the others, and quite a bit louder. He couldn't make out more than a handful of words, but it seemed to be about him from the mentions of 'mermaid'. For a few minutes he lay there, seemingly asleep, head aching, trying to make out as many words as he could.

It was important. He just knew it was.

Specimen. Male. Sensory organs. Fins. Tail. Nervous system. Temperature. Bone mass. Musculature. Osmo… something…

Why did this sound so familiar? But the voices were wrong. Why would he think 'wrong'?

Wrong. He knew none of these voices.

He was alone.

Family… where? Blurry thoughts and images of Cooro, Nana, and Senri flickered through his mind. As well as a deep and painful sense of loss, as if he'd just had them in his grasp and they'd been ripped away…

He blinked open his eyes, squinting into the dazzling light that flooded the room. Something was strapped to his mouth… water. He was breathing in water, in his fish form, but he wasn't in water. What on earth?

He raised his hands to take off the stupid thing so he could turn back, or rather he tried to. His wrists were strapped down, making him unable to move anything more than his fingers. His hands naturally clenched into fists as they fought the pain and emotions threatening to overwhelm him.

He felt panic welling up, but forced it down. His brain was fuzzy enough, and now all those voices around him suddenly grew excited and he felt hands all over.

No. Wrong. He would've cried out, but he already knew no voice would be heard over the thing strapped to his face so he couldn't bring himself to bother. His head still hurt.

He didn't like the hands. In his struggles to escape them, he quickly realized not only his wrists, but his arms were strapped down, just above his elbow. There was a strap over his chest, closer to his shoulders really, as it was positioned to not block or push down on his gills. And two more, one holding down his midsection, where his belly and hips would be if he were human, and another around his tail, just before his tailfin.

He didn't like straps. Being bound, pinned down, held anywhere and anyhow against his will. Never had. Never would.

Slavers. These men had to be slavers, his concussed mind concluded. Or maybe a new 'owner'.

_Disgusting! Get your hands OFF me!_ he screamed inside his head.

One voice came through loud and clear and terrifying, as the hands belonging to it caressed his face.

_Oh, god. No. Please, no. Cooro! Nana! Senri! Save me, guys! Where are you?_

"Such a beautiful creature," said the voice, gently wiping the tears streaming down its face with his fingertips.

* * *

_Author's Notes: I'm not even going to apologize for how long it's been, since at this point that'll probably just annoy everyone… and I can't really promise to do any better at this point. But I DO promise not to drop this story! I'm as much a fan of it as any of you! Sorry there wasn't more Husky in this chapter, but it just wasn't working. As always, feel free to PM me with ideas or comments, and please review!_

_Shout-out to fanfictionaddictee on tumblr for putting this story up as a recommendation! Thank you! As well as to CureAnimeLover for letting me know about it! As for what he/she said about the "dopey" title and description – lol! No arguments there! I've always had a REALLY tough time with those. It's a little late in the game to change the title (never dreamed I'd have so many favorites!), but I wouldn't mind changing the description if anyone can come up with something better. I'll even credit them!_

_I also just realized I never gave a shout-out to Kitty_chan and Nya_chan for the fanart 'Angry Husky', so belated super thank you! I'd put it up for everyone else to see, but unfortunately neither of us has a deviantart or anything, and it wouldn't really work as cover art. (Speaking of which, if anyone wants to come up with one, let it be known that I have ZERO artistic talent, so feel free! And I ALWAYS give credit!)_

_Last, but far from least, of course I have to give special thanks to my wonderful, wonderful beta, Moofy-Fan! She went way beyond just 'beta' in bouncing around ideas, analyses, characters, and 'goals' for the story! Thank you so much!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Notes: Yes! I'm back! Hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait!_

_I've decided to consider new names for this story after all, despite the confusion this could bring. Please send me ideas for new titles in a review or PM – or feel free to tell me you'd prefer it stay the same! I will pick my favorites and put them up in a poll two weeks from the date this chapter was posted. Thank you! _

_It would also be absolutely fantastic if anyone could come up with a cover picture or help me with the summary! And don't worry – I ALWAYS give credit. And if any of my readers are aspiring artists, I also have a kind of top secret (plot-wise) art project that I would like some help with. I have the design down in my head, but I really could use someone to sketch it up…_

* * *

Robin had done all he could to track down these strange black, and – he hated to admit – probably military vehicles that had attacked the Canterfield Estate and taken the +anima Husky.

There was no trace of them, either in the media, in the police database, on traffic cameras… there was nothing. Cyborg was sure all the systems must have been hacked, but whoever it was had been incredibly capable of covering their tail.

All charges against Canterfield were mysteriously dropped, as if he'd never been taken down to the station by the Teen Titans, had never been questioned, had never made a call to his lawyers or arranged his own bail for kidnapping a meta. To top it all off, the police had refused to review the 'theft and vandalism' of the Canterfield Estate, and later showed no records of such a request even being made.

Someone very, very powerful was pulling strings. And it absolutely stank of shady politics and military shenanigans.

In summary, they were in a much, much more difficult situation than before. The only thing they had going for them this time was an actual photograph and biometrics of the victim (not that they dared use that particular term around the remaining +anima). Cyborg had recorded the data promptly and added it electronically to the file, even printing out hardcopies of the adorable (and heartrending) photograph of the +anima all napping together peacefully, taken so shortly before this situation had blown up in their faces.

The leader of the Teen Titans was staring at that photograph now. Husky was indeed as beautiful as Cooro and Nana had insisted – quite remarkably so. Very few could still be pretty with so many injuries, while so obviously in pain and ill and in a sleep closer to unconsciousness. The child was a living doll.

And being treated, not very gently, exactly like one. A doll. An object. A curiosity and trophy.

And it was entirely his fault.

Robin was secretly devastated at his complete failure of leadership. It had been his order to abandon the +anima after the case was 'solved', his conclusion that they were no longer in danger, his rejection of the worries his teammates brought up. It was him that the +anima had every reason to glare at in distrust, to blame for the loss of their friend. His fault that the cheerful camaraderie from just earlier that very day had dissolved into suspicion and long, uncomfortable silences.

His fault that their friend could've been dissected by now and they'd never even know. Never even find the body. Such a story certainly wouldn't be unheard of in Gotham. Even in other cities, actually. Aliens, metas, and the like were still captured, killed, and experimented on regularly despite the Justice League's best efforts. They were just too much of a prize for the less moral of scientists and doctors to resist.

He was desperately hoping to be dead wrong about the child being dissected. Desperately hoping that whoever had kidnapped Husky would see the child as a prize too pretty and unique to actually endanger the life of. That they would want to keep the +anima alive as long as possible, to continue their studies indefinitely.

He pictured the limp bodies of the unconscious children in his mind, their devastated faces upon waking, Nana's scream, Cooro's horrified eyes, Senri's complete blankness. The betrayal they felt painted on their faces as they turned to glare at the Titans when they caught up. The anger they felt, misdirected inward at themselves, with good reason, for they were powerless, mere children, and while strong and self-sufficient, far from powerful or dangerous by Jump City standards, let alone the Gotham standard Robin had grown up with.

This wasn't another failure like Terra, who betrayed them and threw her lot in with Slade. This wasn't himself, blackmailed and threatened. This wasn't like the other innocents he had failed in the past, even seeing them killed before his very eyes. Ones he hadn't had a chance to help, that he'd been powerless to save. Somehow this was so much worse.

Because he had promised, and he had delivered, and then he had failed to follow through. It was like saving a little girl from a bully, then taking her home to a drunk and abusive parent. A disgusting failure on all accounts.

He wasn't there when it really mattered. He had saved the child from an obsessive admirer, someone who wanted to adopt the boy and give him a home – and abandoned him to be captured by someone with power, money, and military and political backing.

He had failed.

The hand not holding the photo clenched in rage, and he angrily tore his domino mask off and leaned over to flick a switch.

But he would _not_ fail again. No matter what he had to do to reunite the +anima.

Even if that included asking for help.

* * *

Dr. Jorgenson motioned for everyone to take a step back as his specimen's breathing hitched and eyes fluttered. It had fallen into unconsciousness several hours ago – which made their tests much easier, but had also hampered their ability to measure anything mental or emotional about the beautiful creature.

Enormous light blue eyes blinked open, clouded in pain and narrowed against the light. They glanced around, quickly landing on the doctor's face and staring in alarm, which morphed into anger within a matter of seconds as the creature realized it was trapped. It immediately started struggling, spine arching away from the metal lab table, tail swishing the scant few inches it could from side to side, human arms straining against the straps around its wrists.

The doctor leaned over the creature, making note of every reaction and filing it away, comparing it to the previous times the 'mermaid' had regained consciousness. It had followed the same pattern every time, and as he watched, this time was falling right into the same sequence. Pain, fear, anger, desperation, terror, panic. If they did not interfere, the creature would strain itself until it again fell into unconsciousness.

Which wouldn't do. His guests were on their way.

"Knox, administer fifteen milligrams of AG."

Knox looked up in slight surprise, but nodded and retrieved the correct vial from the cabinets along one wall. He was back at the table with the prepared drug in seconds.

The merchild tried to scream as his eyes caught sight of the needle and syringe. The only sign of his attempt was a stream of bubbles within the water mask covering his face.

"Calm down," ordered Dr. Jorgenson, not that he expected the creature to really listen. He held down the arm to keep it perfectly steady while his sub-researcher administered the drug. The child tried desperately to escape, actually breaking out into a sweat from its exertions, but the old man held his arm completely immobile.

"…He's crying again," said Georgette softly, though the sub-researcher didn't look overly concerned. More like she couldn't quite understand why.

"We'll clean him up before the board gets here," replied Dr. Jorgenson, easing up on their specimen's arm as he felt the creature relax. He turned his gaze to the creature's face, watching those eyes, so wide with panic, slowly soften and relax.

As a test, the doctor laid a hand on the merchild's arm – no reaction. Whenever he was partially conscious previously, even under the other drugs, he'd still tried to shrug away from contact. This was much better.

"There we go," he continued. "Harmless as a butterfly. Remmy, try removing the mask."

Remmy quickly and efficiently flicked off the water tank and removed the mask. The merchild didn't change back, only laid there motionless, blinking as it half-focused on the people staring at it.

Dr. Jorgenson raised his hand to the creature's face, only getting a pair of dazed eyes half-focusing on him. A strange humming sound came from the creature's throat and it reflexively half-closed it's eyes, leaning into the contact. The doctor's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Note that," he ordered Knox. "No natural self-preservative instinct when in an induced state of relaxation. Perhaps it does not have any natural predators in its native habitat, or perhaps this is more related to the specimen's apparent prepubescence. "

He frowned at the specimen nudging his hand, and nodded to his assistant to help him as he began unstrapping most of the bindings on the creature. As soon as the creature was somewhat free, it turned on its side and curled forwards in on itself, sighing and humming to itself as it made itself comfortable. It whimpered when it moved its injured arm and tail, but quickly relaxed again.

"Appears to enjoy contact, though so far only in this state," commented the doctor, laying a hand on the creature's head and seeing the specimen actually half-smile. He patted it like he would a dog and the soft, pleased sound increased. He stroked the head, then frowned as he again noticed the pierced ears the creature had.

The creature was oblivious to anything they were doing, so he lowered his hands to the creature's ears, carefully removing the sapphire studs. The specimen seemed to interpret the contact as comforting and didn't fight in the least.

"Sir?" asked Georgette, puzzled.

"Such baubles could lead less academic minds to jump to conclusions," commented Dr. Jorgenson. "Leading them to attribute emotional depth and psychological attributes to the specimen without any scientific evidence. We're already going to have our work cut out for us making sure people understand that our specimen is _not_ Atlantean or metahuman, but rather a highly advanced type of fish, one that could create a whole new branch of ichthyology."

His assistants nodded, and at a gesture from their boss, began prepping the room and their specimen for the board members' preview. The doctor himself took a soft towel and wiped the tear tracks from the creature's face and the sweat (which in itself was a puzzle) from its human arms, neck, and face. The specimen seemed to enjoy the attention, half-dozing from the soft strokes.

He frowned, letting his fingers trail over the tattoo-like markings, frowning as he recalled the markings were also present in its 'human' form, and, was it his imagination, or had they had seemed to shimmer during the transformation? He would have to study the recordings in depth later.

Dr. Jorgenson was a man of science. As such, he obviously did not believe in magic. In fact, he was deeply involved in researching the science behind so-called Atlantean magic, particularly their hydrokinesis and telepathy. So far everything seemed to involve electrical pulses operating on a subatomic level. Meaning it could be observed, as well as controlled.

Perhaps the activation of this almost unbelievable transformation was similar. It certainly deserved further study.

* * *

Robin's Titans' communicator buzzed as he finally left the communications room. He growled to himself as he snatched it from his side and flipped it open, dreading to hear more bad news or have to deal with the usual Jump City villains. Not that he wouldn't mind someone to beat on at this moment. A little stress-relief, as it were.

"Bumblebee?" he asked in surprise, as the leader of the Titans East appeared on the small screen.

"Hey Robin," she greeted distractedly, moving her head as if trying to see around him. "Just, by any chance, have you seen Aqualad around?"

Robin frowned at the worry and veiled hope in her voice. "I'm afraid not," he replied.

Her face fell.

"Bumblebee? What's going on?" asked Robin, instantly concerned for their mutual friend and Titan.

"It's, umm… probably nothing. He was mad and stormed off back home. Well, he said he was going home, anyway."

"First off, why was he mad?"

"Oh, just some stupid fight with Speedy about fisheries."

That figured. Aqualad was worse than Beastboy about eating fish.

"So he went back to Atlantis?"

"Well, we thought, but that was two weeks ago and when we called the place to apologize…"

"He wasn't there. Had he left? Or never got there?"

"… Apparently the latter…" admitted Bumblebee, knowing this reflected poorly on her abilities as leader.

"He didn't have his communicator?"

"You know how he gets. Just blew up and left. We found it in his room when we tried to call."

"And it took you two weeks… why?" asked Robin, finally letting his annoyance show. This was just too much on top of his stress with the +animas.

"The… the rest of us might have got involved in the argument towards the end. It started to get… I guess you would say… racial?"

"Human versus Atlantean? No wonder he stormed out."

Bumblebee flushed, but accepted the admonishment. It _had _been two weeks since the fight, after all.

"It usually doesn't go so far…"

Robin sighed and rubbed his forehead. He hadn't meant that to come out so harsh.

"It happens, Bumblebee. Remember, this team has a vegan on it as well. Long as you all apologize in the end, and I'm sure he said harsh words as well. More importantly, do you have any leads?"

"Mas y Menos are searching the coastline for clues. Speedy's asking around the city. I'm calling around. So far, nothing."

"I know you don't want to hear this, Bumblebee, but no matter how bad the fight got, two weeks is too long for Aqualad. Something must have happened."

She paled. Her hands noticeably shook as she fixed her hair.

"I know. When we thought he'd gone home, we figured it was just Atlantean politics or something. But now…? Do… do you think he was…?" Her rapidly paling face and trembling made clear what her unspoken worries were.

"Most likely some underwater problem he ran into on the way to Atlantis, Bumblebee. There's no reason to assume he was captured or killed, and if he was kidnapped, we would've heard something by now."

"What else can we do?"

"Explain the _whole_ situation to Aquaman, apologize sincerely, and keep me posted on any findings."

"Alright. Thank you, Robin… but maybe you guys could…?"

Robin was shaking her head before she even finished, trying hard but knowing he was failing at hiding the stress lines pulling at his face.

"I'm sorry, Bumblebee. We'll keep our eyes and ears open, but we've got a kidnapped mermaid on our hands and his friends are a handful."

Bumblebee's eyes lit up at the same moment the connection was made in both their minds.

"A mermaid?! Then maybe Aqualad…!"

Robin shook his head at her excitement. "Not likely. This has all been in the last four days. Plus the boy's not even really a mermaid – long story."

But he couldn't help but wonder.

* * *

He felt it.

The familiar tingle in that special part of his mind, the aching in his heart. It was in trouble. It was terrified, traumatized, in pain, all alone and despairing of any help from anywhere.

It made him want to scream, to cry, to smash through any and all barriers to get to whatever aquatic creature was crying so. It made him edgy, nervous, impetuous – basically, his instincts screamed at him to throw logic and caution to the wind and just _go_. To follow the oceanic law written deep in every Atlantean's heart – to protect their realm, and every living thing within it, to the death.

Sure, it made him look ridiculous to land-bound humans, with their limited senses, lack of telepathy and empathy, and belief that the world was theirs to _use_. How many times had he seen the admiring sparkles in the eyes of his fangirls die when he went hysterical over an abused goldfish? How many eyerolls had he seen when he tried to explain that it was _crying_?

He tried. Oh, it was impossible to describe how hard he _tried_ to live with his human team. How many times a day he replayed Aquaman's ideals, counsel, and reproof about mankind in his mind, trying to force himself to be understanding. Just figures the day he'd had _enough_ was the day he was captured by a human who saw _him_ as no more than a fish.

The screaming in his head had stopped, along with the pleading and crying out. But there was still a mind-numbing ache of pain and a broken soul. A soul that belonged to the sea. A very young soul, much too young for whatever it was being put through.

Aqualad had been restlessly pacing the dry, cavelike part of his prison – a facsimile of his beloved underwater caverns – when that last realization hit him.

A child. Rage overtook him.

It was enough that they had kidnapped and experimented on _him_, the student of the great ocean king Aquaman himself, practically a prince in his own right, and a _superhero_ for goodness' sake! He could deal with the stupid tests and trials and drugs. It wasn't the first time he's been slapped in manacles or chained to a wall.

But he would _die_ if he didn't stop them from doing anything like that to a child of the sea.

And so he found himself, against all reason, pounding with all his Atlantean strength at the eastern wall of the dry part of his prison.

It wouldn't make sense to a human, but he _knew_ the child was on the other side of the stupid fake-rock wall. And he didn't _care_ if his knuckles were bleeding, if the manacles were chaffing, because he would keep going until the wall was no longer between him and the child, because a child in pain was infinitely more important than his own health or freedom…

He wasn't even aware that he was mumbling.

* * *

"Turn that up," ordered Dr. Jorgenson, frowning as he turned from his notes and reports on the mermaid to the screen, speaker, and observing researcher watching the Atlantean.

His eyes fell on the enraged Atlantean attacking the wall at the same time as the researcher turned up the volume to make sense of the mumblings.

"Let it go! Stop it! Don't you dare! Stop! Out of my way! Not a child! Move over – I'll take care of it! No, no, stop it, everything's okay! I'm coming! Just a minute, on my way! Leave the child alone! I'll take care of it!" And more of the same, in one long stream, with barely a pause for breath.

"He knows about your mermaid, sir?" asked the researcher, bewildered and rather worried about the extent of the self-inflicted injuries on their specimen's hands from trying to bash through the reinforced wall. He quickly turned a dial to lengthen the chains attached to the creature's manacles, fearing it would dislocate its arms, or worse.

"Apparently Atlantean telepathy extends beyond communication," mused the doctor. He thought to himself for a minute, then leaned over to an extra screen and quickly rewound the recording to the time the Atlantean first started to exhibit signs of restlessness. About an hour ago, when they had brought the creature down to the observation rooms after they received the board certification for their project.

His electron disruptor was actually doing its job, then, since the Atlantean didn't notice anything until the mermaid was within the shielded area. It probably didn't help that the poor mermaid had been in another blind panic and Dr. Jorgenson had refused to tranquilize or drug the child again. They critically needed more observation data.

The two projects really weren't related, but an observation of their interaction could be useful. And there certainly were overlaps in the research and experiments he could perform. Besides, their Atlantean had been astoundingly… uncooperative. Immune to most of their drugs, refusing to use any of his more advanced abilities, hadn't even spoken a single word to any of them. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise to a project he'd begun to worry about.

He leaned over and pulled a switch down.

"Make sure everything's recorded and documented," he instructed the researcher sitting at the controls. He sat down to watch the show.

* * *

There was a click, then a loud thud that froze Aqualad's exertions. A strained mechanical whirring, and the wall slowly broke in two and began pulling apart. Before the walls were even far enough apart for him to get through, he had lunged forward and was stretching through the gap. Desperately squeezing and pulling and pushing and squirming to get through to the child.

Aqualad's eyes were straining through the gap in the wall, even before he could get his head through. As he pushed and pulled and scrabbled and squirmed, his searching eyes finally fell on a figure far more mermaid-like than any Atlantean he'd ever known.

He burst through the wall and rushed over to the child whose head was crying out in such pain, even unconscious. As he checked vital signs and examined the child's injuries, he took account of every detail that might help him identify the child's species and family.

He was not familiar at all with the child's race or family. While he knew various Atlanteans with silver hair and scales, the child's form was off. The child's head, throat, and arms appeared perfectly human, for one. Even Aqualad had webbed fingers – he'd thought all Atlanteans did. And, while the child had wavelike marks where most Atlantean families had gills, the child's gills were over his chest, and they were actually more like plates than gills, much more solid.

However, while he could not immediately identify the family the child belonged to, he was certain the child was Atlantean. She was breathing air quite comfortably, for one, even though there was nothing mammalian about her body or tail.

Even then, though, the water would surely be more comfortable for her. Though he was concerned over the bandages on the child's head, right arm, and shortly below the child's dorsal fins.

What had those humans done?!

But, like any Atlantean, Aqualad trusted water far more than any human bandages. Thus he felt no qualms in lifting the child and carrying her over to the underwater part of the cavern, gently lowering her into the water. He carefully made sure the child was breathing in the water properly and that her gills were working.

He decided the child must be female as he monitored her. While still pre-pubescent, the child's form was very delicate, as well as very pretty. Also, silver was generally a female color, with the male equivalent being brighter – generally a red, yellow, or blue. In the more populous families, yes they were more humanlike in color, but with the silver hair he was sure it was a rarer family.

Aqualad lowered the child to the bottom. Like any Atlantean, the child also sunk in water when asleep or unconscious. He made sure the pretty young child was in a comfortable position on the artificial sea floor, not putting any stress on any of her injuries.

The bandages soon grew waterlogged and Aqualad carefully unclipped the already falling apart bandages and unwound them. He took care of the head bandage first.

He carefully unwound it, making sure nothing pulled on the poor girl's beautiful silver-blue hair. There was a large, bruised bump, probably from hitting her head as the skin was scabbed over.

He then unwound the child's arm. Nothing appeared wrong, but the child whimpered as he touched it. A strain, perhaps a hairline fracture or something. That would need support, so he used his hydrokinesis to snugly wrap the water to support the child's arm firmly.

He next turned his attention to the large wrap around the child's upper tail. If she was human, it'd be her upper thighs. He unwound the bandage, then frowned at the large, taped square. This was looking more and more serious. The tape was coming off from the water already, so he very carefully pulled it off, pulling away the square and tape and revealing an ugly stitched wound.

Aqualad had been fighting criminals for years. He instantly recognized a torn gunshot wound. It looked like the actual wound was a couple days old, then it'd been torn from strain.

Poor child. Poor, dear little Atlantean girl. Kidnapped from her family, injured, probably experimented on.

No more. He would watch over this girl now, and he'd never let those humans get their hands on her again!

They'd surely come for her. There had to be a reason they'd captured her – perhaps because she was such a rare species of Atlantean? Regardless, he'd protect the poor child with his life.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Hope you all enjoyed, and please don't forget to review! I'm very excited about this upcoming arc, and I really hope you readers are too!_

_Oh, and __**don't forget to vote in the poll that WILL be up in two weeks!**__ Thank you!_


	15. Chapter 15

_Author's Notes: Um, at least it hasn't been a year, right? Sorry for the long delays between updates, but I really can't help it. Plus it took forever to get a Husky meets Aqualad scene I was happy with! _

_Anyway, the poll for the new title is up! I will keep the voting up for __**two weeks**__ from the date this chapter was uploaded, then change the title to the top voted. Right now the leaders are: __The Family We Choose__ with 10 votes, __Lost Friend, New World__ with 5 Votes, and __Up a Dimensional Creak__ with 5 votes._

* * *

Husky's head was a buzz of pain and confusion and a deep rooted terror without a purpose. Overall, the impression in his mind was a disturbing blur that just made him want to curl up and cry. Even as he twisted and turned to try rearrange himself to get back to sleep, he felt the fog in his mind not quite lifting, but rather twisting and whirling around, making him sick and confused and wary and uncomfortable.

Husky groaned as a pulse of pain drove through his head. He reached out his hand and grabbed at his bed of… sand?

Sand. Water. He was underwater, lying on a sea floor or something.

That wasn't right.

His heart rate sped up as the dark nightmares and half-memories whirled through him. Prisoner. He was a prisoner. A slave. An experiment. Captive. Doll. Toy.

The water whirling around him slowed, and a face appeared in his field of vision.

_"Child?"_

Naturally, he swung a punch straight at its nose.

Without taking the time to register the satisfying crunch and accompanied exclamations, he slammed his tail upwards to kick the monster away from him and dashed off as quick as his dizzy mind could take him.

_"What the HELL was that for?!"_

His panic screamed higher. Monster. Chasing him. Shouting. Angry. Run. Run.

His head hurt. But no time.

_"Get back here! You'll hurt yourself!" _The voice sounded worried. Scared. Concerned.

Lies. Monster. Slaver. Evil scientist. Captor.

Owner.

A shudder went through his whole body, and before he knew what was happening, he had crashed into some sort of ledge. The water was shallow. He could climb right out. Land. Run away. His captor was in the water, so he needed to get on land.

_"Child! I'm sorry for scaring you! Please! It's okay! Calm down!"_

Lies. More lies.

Husky crawled out of the water, not noticing that he was near hyperventilating, not comprehending that he was surrounded by rock walls on all sides with artificial light glaring down at him from somewhere above. His arms trembled, but his mind was too far over the edge with fear for his physical pains to hold him back.

He quickly transformed, and promptly collapsed as he tried to stand upright on a leg that was incapacitated.

If his terror could ratchet up any further it would've. As it was, his panic moved him to attempt to struggle onwards, dragging himself desperately forward with his arms and good leg.

_"I'm on your side! I'm a prisoner too!"_

The voice was still shouting, and only half of what it was saying was processing.

Prisoner? Could it be?

No. Lies. To mess him up. To trick him. To…

That made no sense. Water was safe. Why would the monsters be in his water? The voice, the person, was also of the water.

Husky reached the wall and could escape no further. The monster… fellow captive maybe? The person he had broken the nose of was following him.

He let his arms collapse in weakness and let out a short laugh of disbelief.

Wrong. Something was wrong. Ridiculous. Didn't make sense, but his frazzled mind couldn't process why.

_"It's okay," _ said the voice soothingly, and Husky realized the voice was somehow in his head, not coming through his ears.

He rolled over, resting on his back in his human form, and glared lazily over at the person he had punched.

Don't trust. But he was trapped by the wall. There was no escape. He was already a captive, there was no reason for them to recapture a captive. He felt a dizzy smile tickle his lips at the wobbly logic, which almost escalated into a laugh at the sight of the person climbing out of the water holding his nose, blood dripping down his front.

"Sorry," chuckled Husky, who obviously wasn't. Not in the least.

Aqualad huffed. "I'm a fast healer." He was, actually, and his busted nose had already stopped bleeding. He was pretty sure it was still aligned properly too. The child had been taught martial arts, to land such a concrete blow on a superhero. Especially followed by that crippling kick to his stomach which had knocked out his air for a minute.

Husky frowned at hearing the voice aloud now, but was too dizzy to make sense of anything. He huffed and laid back on the ground, staring up at the rock ceiling with the lights placed into it.

Prison. He was in a prison. So the person with him was a prisoner too? Or worked for his captors…

Husky's eyes darted back towards Aqualad, trying to focus. Finally taking in the manacles on the teen's wrists and the long chains attached to them. The lack of a response from anyone over him being socked in the face. No alarms. Prisoner then, most likely. Maybe he should be nicer.

The smile twitched at his mouth again. Hah, fat chance.

This time Aqualad settled down out of arms reach, sitting cross-legged on the ground and examining the pitiful, exhausted Atlantean girl.

"Your eyes are dilated. Were you drugged?"

Husky blinked. It took a minute for the words to process, which in itself was a pretty decent answer to the question. He reached his left arm over to his right, where he was getting a hazy flashback of someone pinning him down and pressing a needle into it.

A stabbing pain that left him breathless shot up his sprained arm, the muscles cramping and locking up. Unable to handle all the exertion of the last few minutes.

Aqualad lunged forward and gently took the injured arm in his own hands, massaging it to loosen up the muscles. Only stopping when the tendons standing out in the child's neck relaxed as the cramp released.

"Most definitely," commented Husky shakily, remembering the strange-looking maybe-fellow-prisoner teen's question. "Might be withdrawal," he grumbled, mostly to himself, frowning.

He attempted to sit up, but Aqualad pushed him back down, a stern look on his face. Husky was too weak to put up any fight about something as silly as sitting up. Especially when lying down wasn't half bad. With luck he'd go back to sleep in a minute. He closed his eyes and let the fog fill his mind again.

"What else?" asked Aqualad gently. "What makes you think withdrawal?"

Husky frowned. "Dizzy. Balance off. Everything's a little… wrong?" The child's forehead creased up. "Feeling a little sick."

A little? The child had quite the fever, now that he wasn't in the water to keep him cool. Aqualad set his hand against the child's sweating forehead, frowning at the heat radiating off the skin.

"We need to get you back in the water."

Husky's dizzy eyes blinked back open, the dilated pupils still managing a frosty glare.

"Not a fish, stupid," he grumbled, closing his eyes again. "Let me sleep…"

Aqualad sighed but decided not to disturb the child, though he'd have to keep an eye on the fever and injuries.

"Don't worry, dear girl. I'll get you out of this mess. I swear it, as the apprentice and heir of King…"

POW!

It took a moment to register that he was now lying flat on his back, staring up at the enraged girl's face. She was half upright, balanced on her good leg to compensate for her injured one. Her good right arm was still fisted from the solid punch to his chin that had knocked him flat.

"I'M-!"

She wobbled, an obvious dizzy spell from the sudden exertion.

"A BOY!" Husky finished, the glare dropping from his expression as weakness took over and his body folded, collapsing to the ground.

"Idiot!" growled Husky, before slipping into unconsciousness.

Aqualad stared at the ceiling for a minute in shock, then sat up to again examine the now-unconscious child in a new light.

Not just beautiful. Not just a child. But remarkably determined. An impressive fighter. And to be able to think so logically while under the influence, probably highly intelligent.

Hee. A boy.

He started laughing.

It was a very good thing Husky was completely out of it.

…

Dr. Jorgenson had been up from very early this morning, reading through Colin Canterfield's notes and files on the merchild. It was quite an entertaining read – Canterfield always had been quite the naïve, imaginative type. Such as making a point of recording that the child was a _prince_ _from another world_. What utter hogwash! Quite a good laugh, however.

More to the point, he was actually fascinated by the child's claim that his ability to transform came from his 'anima', which apparently was the term the child used to refer to the tattoo-like markings on his lower neck and spreading down to his collarbone.

He'd examined the markings himself in detail the day before, during the initial examination, though hadn't risked any sampling – and was glad he hadn't, after reading such a fantastic claim. If there was any truth to it, damaging this 'anima' could hamper or destroy his subject's mermaid-like form! There certainly might be some credence to the claim from his observations, and upon a serious clip-by-clip study of his earlier recording, his suspicions held a very real possibility. The markings indeed _glowed_ when the child transformed, and the form began at the markings and spread downward.

How on earth was such a thing possible? And with such beautiful results? To not just grow fins and scales – but to actually change _organs_, to create _muscle, _to _completely change_ a creature's physiology. And seemingly from nothing!

Or was it? Because, obviously, no scientist truly believed something could come from _nothing_. And the only logical 'source' of the proteins needed would be the child himself. And those proteins would have to be guided by DNA. DNA that his human form did not possess – but was clearly documented in the merchild's fish form.

Strange. DNA should only guide how something worked. The creation, destruction, and function of existing cells. And it certainly should not be able to overwrite existing DNA… and, say, if it could… How on earth does it reverse itself? And on either the child's _whim_ or by an instinctual need to breathe underwater. No creature could _control_ their own DNA!

And his studies showed the child was exactly the same before and after his transformation, down to the ounce of his weight and the cuticles of his toenails. Certainly not the expected result of something that had been essentially dissolved, reshaped, then later again dissolved and reformed…

But it was obviously possible, because the evidence was right before him. Two separate DNA strands, with no relation between the two. One for a human male child. One for an unidentified species of male fish. With nothing discernible connecting the two…

It was nothing short of miraculous! The possibilities were endless! The tests, the experiments!

Various forms between the two should surely be possible, as well as an extreme 'pure' form for the fish DNA, as there was a 'pure' form for his human DNA. And yet each would still be completely hidden or overshadowed by the other! He really needed to get that child under a microscope and record a full transformation on the molecular level. As well as the rearrangement – or reformation, as he suspected – of the child's muscles, bones, and organs during the process. As well as data on the actual _growth_ of his scales and fins.

Come to think of it, if his specimen was truly 'creating' a new form each time it transformed, then why did the injuries carry over? Surely it should be able to 'recreate' the missing or damaged cells along with new ones? And if it _could_, this could be more than just a biological breakthrough into a new species – but a medical breakthrough that could change the world.

Besides, a damaged specimen was far less likely to gather sponsors. He needed to get the merchild into peek condition in the shortest amount of time possible.

He grinned and began a schedule of testing and experimentation for his specimen while continuing to scan through Canterfield's files for information and ideas.

…

Robin had been worried about this.

Well, not 'this' exactly. Who could expect something as weird as this? But he _had_ expected the silent alarm to be triggered as the +anima children attempted to escape. He had expected them to come look for him to complain and whine.

Well, they did come look for him.

He just didn't expect them to stalk him through the tower.

Seriously! It'd been over two hours! And they were _terrible_ at being quiet – Nana's whisperings in particular were getting his nerves on edge, just loud enough to be irritating, not quite enough to make out what was said.

They'd followed him from the moment he left his room, peeking around corners and trying to hang back to avoid notice (and failing miserably, with their whispering, footsteps, wing flaps, and occasional exclamations.)

They had followed him from his room to the restroom for his morning routine (thankfully not following him in), then to the indoor gym, back to the showers (again waiting outside), towards the kitchen and dining room where he had his breakfast, to where he was now, in the situations room, in front of their league-issued supercomputer, trying to focus but finding it impossible with the constant 'being watched' feeling and distracting noises.

Finally, finally! And after much hushed debating and hisses, Senri of all people stood up, knocked on the door, and let himself in when the door whooshed open.

Robin turned, refusing to let his irritation and impatience show, only waiting patiently for the quiet teen to say something.

Senri appraised the superhero silently for probably close to a minute before opening his mouth.

"You are small," he said, completely seriously.

Nana and Cooro exploded into giggles.

Robin was hard pressed to keep his jaw from dropping in insult. Had this whole stupid morning been some sort of dare?!

"I am big," Senri continued clumsily, and only the confused expression on his face kept Robin from punching the guy in the face.

They lapsed into another long silence, Nana and Cooro peeked around the open door, but kept their distance, no giggles in sight. As if Senri had made some grand declaration and they were all eagerly awaiting the response.

Realizing that Senri would not be explaining himself, Robin took a deep breath, shoved aside his insult, and forced himself to relax.

"What is your point?" he asked, his voice more tense then he liked.

The look of confusion on Senri's face continued and he made a gesture that looked a little flustered but meant nothing to Robin.

"How?" translated Nana's timid voice, piping up. She and Cooro finally came around the door to show themselves, though they rushed to Senri's side and half-hid behind him. Cooro actually climbed up onto Senri's back, looking over the large teen's shoulder.

"Senri is big, so he's strong," explained Cooro.

Robin nodded as he finally understood. He wasn't huge. He didn't have an anima or any superpowers – so how was he so strong? Or rather, why were they so weak?

"I've had training," he explained.

Nana's eyes went to his belt.

Robin almost sighed. "And I use weapons. That was part of my training."

The three still looked unsatisfied.

"But," began Nana, "Husky uses a staff, too. And we've fought soldiers and such before who've had training, but… but never…" She shook her head. "It's not just training, is it." Her head hung low in shame.

"No, it is not," said a beautiful voice from the door. Starfire stepped into the room.

"It is experience," she continued. "No training can prepare the warrior as truly as battle."

"We _have_ experience," despaired Nana.

"Against monsters, thousands of times your size?" interrupted a different voice, colder and emotionless. Raven stepped in, followed by Cyborg and Beastboy.

"With magical powers that defy everything you've ever known?" added Cyborg.

"Then HOW?" cried out Nana. "All you say is we can't do this and we can't do that and we have to listen and obey you and you'll take care of everything but that's not _right_ and it _won't_ rescue Husky and even if it does then he'll just get captured again along with the rest of us!"

"Are you asking us to train you?" asked Robin coldly, interrupting her rant.

Nana flushed red in embarrassment, ducking behind Senri. Cooro looked away.

"Yes," replied Senri, nodding simply.

"Really," commented Robin sarcastically.

"I am big," explained Senri slowly. He paused to collect his thoughts before continuing. "I need to protect them."

"No," argued Nana, taking Senri's hand. "_We_ need to protect _each other_."

Cooro smiled brilliantly in agreement.

There was a long silence, which Robin broke.

"No."

The +anima looked upset but not surprised.

The rest of the Titans, though, looked shocked at the refusal.

"Why not?" burst out Beastboy, looking stubborn.

"We don't have the time. They're too young. They're not part of this world anyway," listed off Robin coldly.

"_I _have time!" argued Beastboy. "_And _I was way younger than them when I started superhero training. _And_ what if they're stuck here, at least for a few years? Are they going to have to spend all that time being guarded or locked up?!"

The three +anima visibly paled at the thought, none daring to interrupt. They hadn't expected anyone to stand up for them, so they were scared of ruining their chances.

Robin and Beastboy glared at each other for a moment, then Robin spun away, back to the supercomputer.

"Fine," he declared. "But don't expect the rest of us to help."

"I know the most about animals anyway," answered Beastboy stubbornly. The green shapeshifter gestured and the +anima quietly followed, carefully not doing anything that could mess this up, for fear Robin would take back his permission.

"Why'd they ask me anyway," grumbled Robin, pretending to be already busy with his research.

The remaining Titans exchanged looks before Starfire replied.

"They said you looked like friend Husky."

Robin looked at her, confused at the comparison between himself and such a, well, doll-like mermaid boy. He couldn't think of a single way the pretty child resembled himself.

"When you were training with your staff this morning," clarified Raven. "Though, really, it's an entirely different style from what I saw in their minds previously."

"We were tailing them tailing you. And eavesdropping," further clarified Cyborg. "They must have spent over an hour comparing and contrasting you and Husky. It was so cute!"

Starfire giggled and even Raven had a trace of a smile, but the threesome noticed Robin's glare and quickly resumed their reporting.

"Heh, I mean, they are just kids after all," concluded Cyborg.

There was a silence for a few moments. Starfire stared hopefully at her boyfriend with her giant green eyes. Raven pretended to not really care about anything, but her eyes kept glancing in the direction Beastboy and the +anima had left in. Cyborg shuffled a little uncomfortably.

"Don't neglect patrols. Continue your respective jobs scanning for reports on mermaids. You may use your free time as you wish, as always."

"We may help Beastboy with the children?" eagerly clarified Starfire.

"Yes," sighed Robin. "Go ahead."

Starfire squealed and hugged Robin, spinning him around before flying off, eager to help. Cyborg was right after her, already running calculations and simulations in his mind to help the kids.

"This could be entertaining," commented Raven with wry humor, picturing Beastboy failing miserably as a coach. She hovered after them, deliberately taking her time.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Again, please vote in the poll! Thanks to everyone for reading, and as always, please review! I'm always open to questions, comments, ideas, and constructive criticism. _


	16. Chapter 16

_Author's Notes: For those who haven't noticed, Plus Anima Meets Teen Titans is now renamed The Family We Choose. Thanks to everyone who voted, and extra special thanks to all those that suggested alternate titles! _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Two figures lay side by side on artificial rocks, beneath fake lighting, both knowing they were being watched but too tired to care.

"Atlantis. Underwater. Wet."

"Sailand. Desert. Dry."

"Parents? Sorcerer and soldier."

"King and twenty-second queen. Siblings?"

"None. You?"

"Dozens, all halves and none that care."

Aqualad and Husky continued to stare at the fake rock roof instead of at each other, though both looked thoughtful and rather relaxed in each other's company.

"Huh. What about pets? I had a tuna for about six years."

"Nah. Unless you count Cooro. Sometimes I'd swear he was a puppy instead of a crow. Collections? I like gemstones."

"Hmm. Pearls, especially black. Some shells, only if they've been abandoned, of course. Favorite season? I like spring, for the migrations and snowmelt."

"Summer. I hate the cold. Food?"

"Seaweed. Saltier the better. Don't you dare say fish."

"Ah, but you walked right into that one," smirked Husky, letting a smile flicker over his face for the moment. It felt like his first smile in weeks, though he hadn't even been in captivity that long.

"Cannibal," huffed Aqualad, finally turning his head to look at his small companion.

"Told you I'm human, idiot," was the swift retort, though with not a trace of the usual irritation. "Whose turn is it?"

"I forget. Dark blue, the deepest part of the sea."

"Light blue, the sky at midday. I'm twelve."

"Sixteen. On my own for three."

"Seven, with my friends for one."

"Two. Still getting used to each other."

Husky gave a sigh at the unasked question, closing his eyes at the thought of Senri, Nana, and Cooro. "… Like I wasn't alive before them."

"That close?" asked Aqualad, curious. Only one year and he felt like that?

"Yeah," whispered Husky softly. "I feel empty."

"Hmm. I'm just a little lonely."

Husky opened his eyes and stared up at the rocks, his eyes scanning over the strange cracks the lights shined through, and who knows what else was hidden up there. "Nana," he said. "Bat. Bossy. Sister. Cute."

Aqualad smirked, understanding the new spin on the game. "Um, Speedy. Redhead. Archer. Annoying, but good-hearted."

"Cooro. Idiot crow. Loyal but secretive. Best friend."

"Secretive?"

"Well, more like he doesn't want to trouble people."

"Oh, I get it. Bumblebee. Pom-pom hair. Stinger. Leader. Tries hard."

"Senri. Bear. Slow, strong, safe. Big."

"Mas y Menos. Actually two, but just as well one. Twins, speak only Spanish, very, very fast. Happy."

"Happy? That's nice."

"I guess…" Aqualad frowned. All this thinking about his friends was making him, well, want to forgive them for that mess before he ran off. Heh, and before he met this 'not a fish' brat, he'd still been nursing a grudge that this was all their fault.

"They like fish, I take it?" commented Husky in his most matter of fact voice.

"Oh, shut up," huffed the Atlantean.

"You _really_ need to get over that," commented the boy.

"Look, I can talk to them. Fish, that is. They're my friends. I'm not going to just get over people _eating _them."

"Fish eat each other all the time. That make them evil?" retorted Husky, rolling his eyes.

"Of course not!"

"There you go."

"Well, fine then. Since we've covered my pet peeve, what ticks you off?"

Giant ice blue eyes narrowed and shot a glare at the teenager lying not three feet from him. "Being thought a girl," he almost growled.

"…" Aqualad didn't have a quick retort, but then Husky saw a smirk twitching at his face.

"Can I laugh?"

"If you want me to hit you again."

"Um, hehe, okay. I won't then. How about fears?"

"Don't go there," huffed Husky, though unconsciously he'd raised a hand to his throat. And no way Aqualad missed that spark of pure terror in his eyes for half a second.

"Then, how'd you become half-fish?"

"That either. And it's plus anima."

"Your friends too?"

"Yep. Yours all Atlantean?"

"Nope, only me."

"Oh, yeah. They eat fish. Well, that must be tough."

"…Yeah, a little lonely sometimes. What about powers?"

Husky huffed and tried to sit up. After a bit of fumbling, he finally accepted Aqualad's hand to pull him into a sitting position.

"Just a normal fish," answered Husky. "Breath underwater. Swim. That's all."

"That's all?" asked Aqualad, surprised. "Really? But I could talk to you, mentally, so there must be more."

Husky frowned at him. "Why must there be more? You said you talk to fish all the time."

"They don't actually, well, _talk_ back. But you could, like another Atlantean. And our communication is dependent on electro… something. You know, I'm not sure how it all works myself."

Husky rolled his eyes and stretched out his arms, his injured one much more gingerly than the other. "So, what other stuff can you do? You must have something, to ask me if I have any."

"No more than any other Atlantean, though I'm probably more adept at using them to fight."

"How's being Atlantean different from being human anyway? I still don't get that, other than what all those freaky jerks with needles keep talking about how I 'must' be Atlantean with my anima, but yet how it's 'not possible' with all their readings and whatnot. Idiots."

"Well, we are an entirely separate race that lives underwater, so it's a given we'll have things that humans don't and vice versa. Let's see, besides breathing underwater and such, we're stronger, more durable, can communicate with all sea life, and can control water. Some can do more, like use magic or electricity."

Husky eyes lit up, finally making him look like a twelve year old. "Control water? Cool! Can I see?"

Aqualad chuckled and gestured. A spray of water flew out from the 'sea' part of their artificial underwater cavern, swirling through the air as it darted over to Aqualad. When it reached him, it swirled around him a few times before collecting into a water ball over his palm. He actually took the water ball in his hand and held it out to Husky, who reached out to touch it with a look of awe on his face.

"You know, you should be able to do this too," commented Aqualad.

Husky rolled his eyes. "No way. +Anima, not Atleantean, remember?"

_You can talk to me in your mind, right? _thought-asked Aqualad to Husky, smiling gently. _Our powers are connected. Surely it wouldn't hurt to try?_

Husky frowned at him, not liking the voice in his head, refusing to reply in the same manner even if the other guy was so sure he would be able to. "Yeah, but that's different. I'm from a different world. Different rules. My form is a fish's, that's all. We don't get magic."

"That's not what I…" Aqualad's voice trailed off as he heard something. Something… ominous.

Click. Click. Click.

He recognized the sound immediately. His chain. Being retracted into the wall.

They were coming. For Husky.

"What's that?" asked the silver-haired boy in confusion, tilting his head to hear the metallic sound.

"Husky, grab hold!" shouted Aqualad, lunging over and reaching out his hands, but a second too slowly as the chain suddenly snapped taunt, yanking his arms backward and dragging the Atlantean superhero mercilessly back towards the separate prison, just missing the hand Husky had stretched out.

ClickClickClickClickClick…

Husky, being no fool, had caught on quickly. He lunged forward, but too slowly, too weakly, crying out as the effort pulled at his various injuries. Their captors were coming, and they were subduing Aqualad before they arrived. Which probably meant they were coming for him. And he was still in no condition to fight back effectively.

Aqualad could, would, fight for him. Had sworn to earlier.

But the chain was hauling Aqualad back too fast. Husky struggled to climb up to chase after him, only to fall over, sprawling on the ground.

"Stay with me!" shouted Aqualad desperately, straining pointlessly against the relentless chains. "If they split us up, I can't protect you!"

Husky struggled again. Failed again. He could barely gather enough strength to support his bad leg beneath him on all fours, let alone the strength to stand up and run towards the now shutting rock wall closing between them, separating their prisons.

Too late. It was shutting.

Husky felt his heart rate skyrocket in panic.

Shut.

Not again. Not again. Not again. Would he never get a break? He'd only just began to relax in Aqualad's company! To be able to think clearly instead of being blinded with drugs, fear, and suspicion.

There was a rushing noise, like a blast of wind, then a clunk and scrape as a different wall, or rather a small section of it, began shifting back and to the side.

Husky scrambled back, dragging his bad leg that was again screaming with every attempt to move it. No. No way. Not again. And again and again and again.

Water. Water was safe. He could escape to the water. No one could catch him in the water.

It made no sense logically, not with the 'enemies' he'd met so far in this world, but somehow in Husky's mind it seemed his last chance.

He should've stayed in the water, hid as deep and far as he could. Water was safe. Can't catch him in the water.

He could've, he should've, but it was too late and men dressed in lab coats were charging in and he tried to run for the water but he couldn't go fast enough with his leg and he was being grabbed and pinned down and even though he fought he knew he had no chance…

Husky punched, kicked, kneed and elbowed and bit and scratched and even almost got away a couple times, but there were too many hands, arms, limbs, grabbing and pushing, pinning him to the ground, and it was only a matter of time before they had him helpless. Mere seconds.

A voice. One he knew, though it must've been from when he was drugged because his mind couldn't place when or where or how at all. Just that it filled him with blind terror and he couldn't help the tears of empty despair that started up at the sound of the heartless tone.

"Put him in the tube, lab 12. No drugs."

* * *

Dr. Jorgenson watched with amusement as six grown men struggled with an injured merboy. It really was quite entertaining. If the fish child could handle six, though granted they were rather spoiled researchers and not soldiers, it would be very interesting to see what he could do fully healed.

Thus the reason to get this next experiment done as soon as possible. His hypothesis made perfect logical sense, building on the foundations of Colin and Meredith's research, plus his own keen observations and studies of this fish's unusual transformation.

He followed contentedly, keeping his eyes glued to the specimen the entire time. Interesting how, first chance it got, it reverted to its 'human' form. Though it was quite interesting that the creature didn't even attempt to argue or talk his way out of its situation – though they certainly knew the specimen _could _talk, and quite well from that extremely lengthy conversation it'd had with the Atlantean. But it just continued to fight, even though it was now dripping blood from its leg and head wounds and obviously biting back whimpers and cries of pain with each desperate movement.

They soon arrived in one of the more specialized labs. A single tube, scarce three feet in diameter, seven feet from top to bottom, was in the center of the room, already filled with water and hooked up to their equipment. Panels of computers and more laboratory equipment lined the walls. Cameras captured every angle of the tube, and the space immediately around it was clear to allow for full viewing.

The fish child, now sweaty and exhausted from his exertions, was handed off to a larger man, this one actually a soldier in full body armor, who pinned the child bodily against his broad armored chest as he climbed steps to a catwalk above leading to the top of the tank. The specimen was dropped in and the lid slid shut before the fish child could retaliate in the slightest.

Obviously, the fish was then forced to reveal its true colors, or risk drowning. There was no air in the tank at all. The specimen pounded on the glass, even as it transformed, obviously terrified. Perhaps claustrophobic? Though it was quite spacious, in Dr. Jorgenson's opinion, for a child. It had been built to handle even fully grown Atlanteans, after all. And obviously they couldn't allow enough space for the specimen to mess around – that would make observations and experimental data quite a bit more difficult to attain.

The doctor waited a few minutes before waving all but a small few of his best researchers out of the room. They would need their full concentration on what was too come. Also along those lines, they shut off all unnecessary lights, while turning on special lamps to fully light every angle of the creature's body. There was a good possibility this experiment wouldn't be able to be repeated, after all. They couldn't miss anything.

He gestured, and one of the researchers flicked a switch on a bank of controls.

The creature froze in sudden shock, it's rather beautiful face twisting in pain.

Another researcher slowly began to adjust a knob.

The creature's mouth opened in a silent scream, eyes snapping shut and hands reaching up to cover it's ears.

The researcher turned the knob another several notches.

The scream was no longer silent, and the creature's face and body twisted in pure agony.

* * *

They were running their +anima guests through a series of preliminary training tests when Cooro broke down. 'They' naturally included every one of the Teen Titans, since as Beastboy began testing the children, the other's naturally stepped in to see more and more of what the kids were capable of. Even Robin got roped in when Starfire got the fantastic idea to run them through the Titans' training obstacle course outside the Tower.

The three +anima had frankly impressed the Titans with their strength and speed in their human forms – probably a simple result of their less advanced world and lifestyle on the road – and when transformed their abilities were actually above standard on a scale for untrained metahumans. So it came as a complete shock when, in the middle of the obstacle course, Cooro froze midair, was hit by a dodge ball going upwards of forty miles an hour, and plummeted downward. It became more of a shock when the gang approached and heard sobbing and could only see a mound of black feathers.

Nana and Senri were the first to act, with Senri pulling aside Cooro's tented wings shielding his face and body and Nana immediately leaping in and pulling Cooro into a tight hug.

"What happened?" demanded Robin.

"Dude, is he okay?" asked Beastboy, somewhat scared at seeing Cooro's completely uncontrolled wails and tears.

Nana was also crying, unable to hold back at hearing Cooro's sobs. Senri knelt down and pulled them both into his arms protectively.

"Husky?" he asked gently. There was a question in his tone, but from his expression he knew he was right.

Raven, remembering Cooro's strange connection with the other animas, frowned and stepped forward. Trying not to think of what nightmare scenario could result in Cooro's pain.

She set her hand on his forehead and was barely able to hold back from screaming as a crippling pain and anger and fear surged through her.

Cooro was not so lucky, and certainly had none of Raven's control, so when the turmoil within him transformed and expanded tenfold at Raven's touch, he _did_ scream. Senri instantly snatched Cooro away from Raven's hand, snarling protectively as he let the child cling to him, eyes wide and blank in pain and terror.

Raven took a second to compose herself before stepping forward again.

Senri growled warningly and Nana stepped in front of Raven, eyes disturbingly narrow and dark.

"Wait, friend Raven!" called out Starfire, grabbing Raven's arm and pulling her back.

"The connection," protested Raven. "Before he loses it, I have to - "

"Look at them, Rae!" shouted Beastboy, sounding angry.

Raven looked, really looked, and realized something was very off. Senri's hair was lengthening and turning thick and matted, and claws were forming on _both_ hands. Nana's eyes were pitch black and shaped differently, and her mouth – opened in a silent hiss – revealed fangs growing sharper by the second.

Both looked like animals, and were becoming more so by the second. A glance towards Senri's arm revealed the anima was actually shimmering. There was a rip as Nana's growing wings tore through her dress, and Robin saw the same shimmering anima revealed there.

Raven took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "I still need contact with Cooro. Before he loses the connection with Husky. This could be our only chance at a link."

Senri's growl deepened at her voice. Nana stepped closer to him, her wings spread wide as if trying to threaten the Titans.

"Reminds me of The Beast," commented Cyborg, focusing on _not_ letting his arm subconsciously shift to a cannon in his own instinctual reaction.

"How do we convince our friends we are not a threat?" asked Starfire, voice sad and in pain, eyes glued to a still-sobbing Cooro clinging to Senri, wings with almost a mind of their own as they tried to hide him.

"Everyone sit down," instructed Beastboy, deliberately calmly, following his own advice. "Raven, talk to Cooro."

"Not the others?" asked Cyborg, also deliberately speaking slowly and calmly.

"_Cooro_ needs to calm down," answered Beastboy, his meaning plain. The others wouldn't come to their senses until Cooro did.

"Cooro, please listen to me," began Raven, in that slow, melodic tone the others so rarely heard. Beastboy himself visibly relaxed at the low, calming voice.

"I know you're in pain, Cooro – I felt it as well. We need to help Husky. You need to let me help you find Husky. Please, Cooro, let me help you."

Thanks to her empathic abilities, Raven could sense that she really was getting through. Cooro visibly seemed to relax just that tiny bit, and Nana and Senri frowned, starting to come back to themselves.

Raven bravely took a step forward, and this time Senri and Nana remained quiet.

"Cooro, we need to hurry. You have to calm down and help me. Let's find Husky."

Cooro actually glanced up, his wings lowering to reveal his head and face, now no longer pressed against Senri. His emotions were still shaky, but he seemed more aware of her.

Beastboy slowly stood up and took a confused Nana's arm gently, pulling her away and helping her sit down. Cyborg took Beastboy's lead and set a hand on Senri's shoulder. The large teenager blinked, then slowly lowered Cooro to the ground. Cyborg gently pulled Senri back a step, while Raven slowly approached a shivering Cooro and held out her hand. When no objection came, she set her hand against his forehead.

* * *

The fish anima was screaming, lashing, crying out in pain. A pain that was unnatural and terrible and wrong. And as it screamed and lashed, it grew. In power, in size, in strength. Dwarfing the crow, bear, and bat animas behind her, despite there being some sort of wall between them.

Wrong. Pain. Too big. Hurts. Too strong. Not right. No. NO. NO!

Torturous pain. Complete lack of control. Confusion and pain and fear.

The crow was at her side, crying out as it tried to get the fish's attention. The screaming fish seemed oblivious as it continued lashing about uncontrollably.

The crow suddenly lunged forward, smashing into the barrier. It screamed out again, slashing at the barrier with its claws, beating it with its wings.

The bear and bat animas were crying too now, in confusion and fear, out of worry for their family and the pain of knowing a loved one was separated and in pain.

Raven reached out to the heartbroken crown and almost jolted awake when her hands felt feathers instead of the vague semi-form she expected. The crow relaxed at her touch, turning its head to look at her in curiosity and surprise, but all too quickly turned back to the fish, about to charge at the barrier again.

Raven pulled the cow into a hug, pulling it close to her chest, knowing she needed to comfort it, that the crow needed to calm down before they could get anywhere.

It cawed softly, upset and not understanding why she was preventing it from its goal, its brother.

Raven slowly shifted the crow to holding it in one arm against her while she pressed her now free hand against the barrier.

It was almost invisible, but not quite. Almost solid, but with the slightest bit of give.

She pushed, and her hand slowly sank through the barrier.

The crow froze in hope.

Raven continued pushing, sinking her whole arm through the barrier, her fingers just coming out on the other side. She took a minute to ready herself, then pushed the rest of herself through, still holding the crow close.

And they were through. With a shriek of desperate joy the crow tore itself from her and dove toward the fish.

And the fish looked at them.

Raven felt a strange moment of unstableness as something connected. Then voices and feelings exploded in her head.

_"HUSKY!"_ screamed Cooro's voice in her mind, the name loaded with love and worry and fear.

_"C-Cooro?"_ whimpered a voice Raven had never heard before, but one Cooro obviously knew well from the way his emotions exploded in joy.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Whew, and finally got in that Cooro+Raven+Husky scene I've been planning since I first got the idea of Raven augmenting Cooro's ability! Hope that worked out well! _

_I'm not quite as proud of this chapter as some previous ones, but I do think I'm making some good progress in the right direction! Thanks for reading, everyone, and please review to let me know what you think!_


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